Operation Fake Dating
by orange-you-wonderful
Summary: Austin's playboy ways land him in a public scandal. Kaylie is having some image problems of her own. Their agent's solution? Have them pretend to be a couple, of course. This simple plan would work a lot better if they could just, you know, get along.
1. Jalapenos vs Olives

**A/N:** Takes place just after Austin has joined the Rock.

**CHAPTER 1: Jalapenos vs. Olives**

It starts on a Monday, with Austin Tucker's boy-slut ways being splashed all over the news.

Kaylie hadn't really been paying attention to the sports section of any newspaper until Lauren excitedly showed her a page from a major Colorado publication, on whose athletics-coverage column were printed the words "scandal," "sex," and "Austin Tucker," all in the same sentence. From a quick scan of the article, Kaylie understands that Austin had apparently been photographed with half a dozen models entering a hotel room in downtown Denver on Saturday night.

"_Shocking_," Kaylie comments dryly, attention back in her cereal that Monday morning. And she all but forgets about Austin's existence until she finds herself sitting inside her car at the Rock's parking lot that morning, picking up her gym bag from the passenger seat, then turning to exit her car and watching him park another one of his monstrous, scary-looking race cars beside hers. They step out of their cars at the same time; she examines his deep-set eyes and paler-than-usual coloring, and throws him a weary, disapproving look. He's only been in the Rock for a few days, and the waves he's made upon his arrival have just barely settled. When Kaylie forgets that he shamelessly basks in the attention most of the Rock girls have been showering him with, she thinks he's a nice enough guy that she wouldn't mind befriending.

"Admiring the Lambo?" he asks with a smirk, walking beside her as they make their way to the gym.

"Admiring your hung-over appearance, more like," she replies cheekily, not helping a small smile when she hears him chuckle. "Need some make-up to cover those hickeys?"

"This is not a hickey. I accidentally hit my neck against a doorknob," he retorts with a crooked grin that makes her smile. They're walking into the gym when he comments, "I just bought that car, you know. Cost me a year's salary. What do ya think?"

They both pause by the doorway as she takes a look back to survey the metal heap of sharp corners that seems to only rise an inch above the ground. All she can think about is how uncomfortable that car must be, but instead, she turns back to him, suddenly mindful of how close she's standing next to him, and announces solemnly, "I must say... yellow isn't really your color."

"Ouch," he murmurs, feigning affront, and with a shared laugh she turns on her heels to make her way to the locker room. A second later she realizes with a rush of giddiness (that she covers up with annoyance) that once again he's walking by her side and she has to stop in her tracks lest he walk in with her.

"I appreciate our sparkling conversations but I'd rather not have an audience when I change in the locker room."

"Don't tempt me, Cruz. And you know, I haven't named her yet."

Oh God. He's talking about that car, isn't he? She resists the urge to roll her eyes, but a much bigger part of her is far too entertained by him to walk away. She likes these back-and-forths they have, for some reason. Kaylie can't quite explain why—he's an attractive, irresponsible idiot whose charm she can't make herself immune to. "What porn star names are on your shortlist?"

"You're hurting her feelings," he accuses, giving her another one of his bright, dazzling grins that tell her he's enjoying this, too. "But I'm thinking Kaylie is a very sexy name."

"And I'm thinking you wanna die young," she deadpans, resuming her walk to the girl's locker room.

"You know you like the idea!" he calls to her, laughing, and shaking her head, Kaylie finally enters the locker room, heads to her very own metal closet, and sighs. Austin Tucker, that insufferable womanizer, has now officially stamped a smile on her face for the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>Tuesday came along and Kaylie had to enlist Austin's help after an enormous maintenance truck made it impossible for her to park her Mercedes without side-grinding all the cars beside her designated spot.<p>

He was cocky as he accepted the challenge. Of course. That was expected, her knowing the size of his ego and all. But once he completed the task at hand and stepped out of the car, stretching his hand out to give her the car keys, she couldn't contain her gratefulness and smiled widely. Apparently she caught him off-guard, because he froze mid-movement for a quick second and looked, for the first time since she met him, unsure of himself.

"Thanks, Tucker. You saved a damsel in distress." Taking the keys from his hands, she headed to the gym, confident he would be following her.

"That's... what I'm here for." He had recovered in a flash; the smirk was back, as was his cool detachment in the way he watched her with a mischievous, cocked eyebrow when they crossed the entrance and were standing at their usual parting point, the girl's locker room. "You know, you still haven't let me take you on a ride inside Kaylie."

"First of all, tell me you did _not_ name that car after me," Kaylie ordered with disbelief, then, when he licked his lips coyly, she added, "and second, I'm not going to 'ride Kaylie,' you perv. That sounds disturbing in a lot of different levels."

He grinned. In her experience, that was worse than him being angry or serious. He looked like he was up to something, and that put her on edge for what he was going to say next.

"Well, I ride Kaylie everyday and let me tell you—" _Oh no, he didn't just go there_. Instantly, she punched his arm, hard, and watched with satisfaction as he stumbled back with shocked, albeit smiling bewilderment, the rest of his taunt apparently swallowed back in favor of an exclaimed, "goddamn you punch like a man!"

"And you," she grinned proudly, swinging the fallen straps of her gym bag back on her shoulder, "cry like a girl."

* * *

><p>Wednesday brought the two together again during lunch, when they crossed paths at the same sandwich stand in downtown Boulder.<p>

"Ham? I pegged you for a turkey kind of gal," he teased as they seized up each other's trays of food and waited at the checkout line.

"And I was about to say that I can't believe we picked the exact same sandwich..." Kaylie muttered in response, genuinely intrigued. "Oh, wait. Are those olives?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Olives don't go with ham, Austin."

"They go great together; what are you talking about?"

"About that trainwreck in your tray. Olives are going to ruin the ham."

"Says the girl who put jalapenos in her sandwich."

"What's wrong with jalapenos?"

"You won't even know there's ham in there with those things burning up your mouth. I ate a pizza with those things once and couldn't taste anything for two days."

"That's because your mouth is weak, and you like bland food."

"My food is plenty tasteful."

"Yes, I bet the olives really add flavor."

"They do. They're better than your jalapenos."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are _not_."

"Are too!"

At the sound of someone clearing their throat, both Kaylie and Austin turned to the bored cashier. Kaylie felt her face burn just slightly with embarrassment. "For here or to go?"

"Oh, we're not eating together," Kaylie hastily explained while Austin nodded in agreement. The mere thought of someone thinking they were having a meal together flustered her. "We were just... um... anyway, uh, to go, I guess. I think..."

"How much is the total?" Austin spoke up when he noticed her mumbling. "For the two sandwiches."

"Six fifty."

Once the food was paid for, and Kaylie had expressed her thanks, Austin fished out his sandwich from the store's bag and with a smile, they parted ways. Kaylie hadn't planned on talking to him again once lunch was over and they saw each other at the gym—bumping into him outside of the Rock was enough Austin for the day. But all these plans of avoiding him were gone once she opened her sandwich and realized Austin accidentally took hers instead of his own. And now, she had to pick out all these goddamn olives from her ham sandwich.

* * *

><p>Lunch break ended and Kaylie tried to make her way back to the gym—and the key word is "tried" because there were a hundred thousand news vans flooding the parking lot and it took her half an hour to navigate the mess and get to her parking spot. She was bewildered, yes, but didn't try to find out what this was about, because someone was going to tell her as soon as she stepped into the gym; that's how it always worked. And sure enough, Lauren cornered her in the locker room and examined her as though trying to read her mind.<p>

"What is it?" Kaylie inquired tiredly.

"Those news vans... heard yet why they're here?" the blonde asked, hands on her hips in a pose that told Kaylie she was enjoying gossiping about this. Kaylie shook her head with a sigh. This sort of thing rarely interested her. "Well, what else? Your BFF Austin Tucker is in another scandal, this time with a bunch of Bulgarian models and supposedly that anchor from Telemundo's evening news."

There were so many things wrong with that last sentence that Kaylie didn't even know where to start. BFF? Models? TELEMUNDO?

By then she was already dressed and heading out, and just as Lauren was getting ready to continue her story, they bumped into the devil himself.

"Your jalapenos sucked," were the first words to emerge from his mouth, and the way he was so passionate about it made Kaylie breathe out a shallow laugh. He had a unique ability to make her forget what she had been thinking about just a moment before.

"Well, I had to fish five hundred _thousand_ olives to eat my sandwich, so don't even start whining."

Lauren cleared her throat and suddenly Kaylie remembered there was another person there beside them, and one that had quite the satisfied smirk on her face.

"Yeah, I think I'll leave you two to flirt over food."

Kaylie didn't have time to come up with a snappy response because out of nowhere, MJ, her agent, appeared by their side and interrupted them with her curious, appraising presence. A quick peek at Austin revealed that he didn't seem surprised at all that the stern agent was there.

"Hello, you two," she greeted with that same businesslike tone that was further accentuated by that intimidatingly crisp English accent. "It's perfect that I can speak to you both at the same time."

"Hey, MJ," Austin greeted tiredly, and immediately Kaylie's eyebrows shot up in alarm.

"You know my agent?" she asked.

"_Your_ agent? MJ's been my agent for years."

Oh, joy.

"That isn't important right now," MJ cut him off abruptly, giving him a small smile to compensate for being rude, apparently, then added, "I have a proposition to make for you two. Come into the office."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yes, I know it's not the wisest decision to start a new fic when I haven't finished my other one, but this idea has been plaguing me for months now! It seriously won't leave me alone :-/ It's a different ship than the one I've been writing about, but since it's become clear that the Kaylicky ship has unfortunately sunk, I figure I might as well try out a cannon ship for once. Hope you guys enjoy it!


	2. The Plan

**CHAPTER 2: The Plan**

"Let me lay it down for you two. I am responsible for the management of your public image. In my evaluation for your public images, I have noticed you both have problems, and the solution to these problems lies in the other."

Kaylie shifts uncomfortably in her seat. She and Austin have just taken seats inside MJ's large trailer slash office, while the agent briskly gathers what Kaylie assumes is paperwork from behind her desk. Her eyes sweep the spartan, professional-looking interior; leather seats, fine wooden finishing, and a few framed photos here and there of MJ with her most famous clients, like Austin and an LA Lakers player whose name she can't remember.

"Here." MJ hands each of them a small stack of magazines (which Austin promptly sets on the table in front of them without giving them a second look). Kaylie finds that the topmost magazine in her pile is a celebrity gossip publication on whose cover is a picture of an annoyed Austin, while a huge headline asks, _Has playboy gymnast Austin Tucker gone too far?_

"What the..." Kaylie murmurs, reading the front page on the magazine underneath, which in turns exclaims, _Austin Tucker and the underage model: another athlete fallen from grace! _"Why is..." she begins again, but her mumbling is silenced again when she quickly moves aside magazine by magazine, confirming that all of them claim to have the exclusive story to some Austin Tucker scandal. Frowning, Kaylie looks up, expecting either MJ or Austin to start explaining what the hell is going on, but all she sees is a stone-faced Austin sitting back, crossed legs and arms, while MJ is watching Kaylie with a raised eyebrow.

"As you can see, Austin's latest misstep has cost him quite a bit of the public's goodwill."

"What did he do?" Kaylie asks hesitantly.

Austin responds right away; "nothing. I didn't sleep with some underage model. I had dinner with a _bunch_ of models, and then some guy snapped a picture of me with just one of the girls, and this bullshit happened." His tone is equal parts angry and frustrated, emotions that seem foreign on the always easygoing Austin.

"This is not an isolated problem, Austin," MJ argues pointedly, a tad heated even. "I've had to do an extraordinary amount of work to ensure that your misadventures don't all end up public knowledge, but of course that becomes an increasingly difficult task when your careless and inconsequential stunts continue to undermine my best efforts to preserve your image."

Wow.

Austin's glower is icy enough to birth a glacier inside the trailer, but MJ's hot irritation is enough to even it out apparently, and in the harsh silence that follows, Kaylie is overwhelmed by an intense urge to excuse herself and leave the two to hash out their issues—far away from her.

"Um," Kaylie breathes nervously, almost inaudibly, "I think I'm just gonna show myself out..."

"No, stay," MJ commands, most of her edge missing. "Now that we've broached Austin's problem, it's time for yours."

"Say what?" Kaylie asks immediately, caught off-guard. _I'm a virgin_, she almost blurts out.

"Austin's problem is that he is too famous, too exposed. He's saturated the nation with stories of his bad boy antics. Your problem, on the other hand, is this." With a simple gesture, the agent gives her a laptop, with a Google search of "Kaylie Cruz" on the screen. There are a few results. A sparse Wikipedia page, an entry in the NGO's website, and a few scattered mentions of her here and there. Kaylie bites the corner of her lip, feeling very stupid because obviously MJ is trying to tell her something, but she can't figure out what. Her neurons seem to firing at all cylinders to put the pieces together.

And then she understands. Austin is too famous—she's... not famous enough.

"You're practically unknown," MJ states as the look of realization settles on Kaylie's face. The way she says it, it's supposed to be a horrific thing, but with the headlines on Austin's scandals fresh on her mind, Kaylie can't bring herself to agree. Anonymity suits her just fine.

"I'm okay with that," Kaylie responds evenly, closing the laptop and setting it beside her, on top of all the terrible magazines. "I've never wanted fame."

MJ doesn't even blink, much less waver. "You don't need to be a celebrity. You need to have a name. You're the national champion and no one knows your name."

Oh. Ouch.

"As an athlete, you need sponsors. You need fans. As your agent, I'm telling you that I cannot advertise a product that no one knows, no matter how great the product is."

This isn't supposed to be insulting, but nonetheless, Kaylie feels slightly stung.

"My solution," MJ says, pacing the trailer hallway for a few steps, "is a collaboration between you two."

She's silent for a few moments, as though weighing her words against what she's perceiving as she examines them. Kaylie's frown deepens, and Austin clears his throat, ready to, as Kaylie imagines, urge MJ to get to the point.

Unceremoniously, however, MJ does elaborate more on the proposed collaboration. "You two will date."

Kaylie blinks twice, and Austin's mouth, which was slightly open, slams shut.

"Uh..." is all Kaylie manages to get out before her brain sputters blank again. Date Austin? Austin Tucker? Ham-and-olives Austin? I-Named-My-Car-Kaylie Austin?

"We'll _what_?" Austin asks in quiet disbelief.

MJ watches them with apprehension and quickly adds, "well, not date, exactly, but rather, pretend to," but it's already too late. Kaylie's already taken a disgusted, disbelieving look at the boy beside her, he's done the same to her, and the outburst that follows in the trailer is deafening.

"There's no way—"

"We can't possibly—"

"How are we—"

"Sasha has a rule—"

"There's got to be—"

"No one's gonna believe—"

"... don't even get along—"

"Irresponsible jerk—"

"Spoiled brat—"

"... my parents will kill me—"

"... dad has a shotgun—"

MJ's expression has gradually transformed from subdued annoyance to outright displeasure during Kaylie and Austin's stream of objections, and with one swift motion of her hand slicing across her neck, she silences them, and this is when Kaylie knows—in a fearing, unsettled way—that the agent means business. "All right, shut it. Kaylie, you understand that this is but a stepping stone so you're not relegated to being a footnote in a Wikipedia article about last year's Nationals instead of someone who is now part of American sports history? And Austin, you understand that you are, right now, universally reviled and tainted in the eyes of the public and nothing but the story of a nice girl who managed to tame you is going to save that tarnished reputation of yours that is now overshadowing your gymnastic accomplishments? You both understand that? Good. I'll be outside. When you decide on what you want to do, advise me." Smoothly, MJ turns on her heel and steps out of the trailer. Her words still ring in the trailer, however, like its walls were hollow. Specific words echo inside Kaylie's ears; "footnote," "Wikipedia," "sports history."

Kaylie's eyes slowly settle on the trailer door, wondering whether she should leave, too. Instead, she ventures a quick peek at Austin. He's quite openly staring at her, and Kaylie jumps back slightly.

"I think we should do it," Austin says simply, much to Kaylie's shock.

"Are you seriously—"

"But we just need to do it on our own terms, not hers."

"Austin," Kaylie begins gravely, "I don't think you understand the gravity of what she's asking us to do. Being in a relationship is hard. Pretending to be in one must be even worse. It's like paying the price without any of the benefits."

"Oh, but there will be benefits. For one, you will have the opportunity to amass an obscene amount of money from sponsorships—like I did—and for me... there's the chance to not seem like the world's biggest asshole." He's confident in his words, as usual, but there's a small tremor of frailty in the last part of his sentence that makes her second-guess his demeanor.

"You can't honestly be caring what these people think."

"I don't." He inhales deeply, leans forward, then drops his head and buries his face inside his hands. Kaylie widens her eyes as she watches his body just fold like that, when it's usually so tall, strong, and imposing. "I care what my parents think. My claims of innocence are getting old..." He's lowered his voice so that Kaylie now has to shift closer to him in order to make out what he's saying. "Even if they did believe me, the world thinks they raised this womanizing dog who can't keep his shit together..." He raises his head just slightly, to throw her a worried look that sends a pang through her heart. "And they didn't. They raised me right. I'm the one who keeps screwing up."

The family issue is obviously very sensitive; Kaylie can feel remorse oozing from his pores. So she decides to ask him something less invasive. "How did your sponsors react to this last... scandal."

"Most are threatening to drop me," he answers casually, now straightening up and shrugging, his countenance back to its default setting—nonchalant. "A few already have. As a result of my reduced income, I have decided to move out of that lake house and come live with you peasants in Boulder's suburbia." At his easy insult, Kaylie almost forgets that just a second ago, Austin looked as though he was coming apart. She smiles as brightly as she can—which isn't much—intent on masking how badly she feels for Austin.

"Peasants? I'll make sure to warn your future neighbors not to bake you any cookies."

"How rude, Cruz. What else are you going to do? Throw eggs at my future house?"

"Maybe a few dozen or so rolls of toilet paper. I'm sure I'll think of something." She's finally made him return her smile, and when he stands up and offers her a hand to help her to her feet, Kaylie has to swallow back a nervous, anxious feeling in her gut.

_Breathe. Breathe..._

She's agreeing to it, isn't she? She's not being dragged into this anymore; she stopped digging her heels in the moment she saw his crumpled, disheartened figure lamenting his family's poor opinion of him.

She's going to pretend-date Austin Tucker. She can't even begin to imagine the shitstorm this is going to create, both in the gym and in her home. God help her.

They exit the trailer one after the other, and wait for MJ to finish what sounds like an important call. When she does put her phone aside, her gaze is trained intently on them, so that Kaylie feels even shorter than usual, and doesn't know what to say. All she can do is give her agent a quick nod.

"Good. We start tomorrow."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Thanks for all the reviews and author/story alerts (have been getting a lot of those, which is awesome)!


	3. The First Step

**CHAPTER 3: The First Step**

The first step, Kaylie learns, is to be seen together more often in the gym.

_"Your relationship needs to look like it's developing organically, so that when the media begins to pick up on your alleged romance and they seek sources from the Rock, they will be told that for a while now, you two have displayed a certain closeness that wasn't present before."_

That, in turn, means that they have to hang out while they're training, and look like they enjoy each other's company—which they, of course, do not.

After they agreed to go along with this plan, MJ gave them both a portfolio ("the Manual") with various paperwork: step-by-step instructions on what to do together and when, along with a scarily specific timeline of when to do what. For an example, Kaylie finds out that for the first three days, all they have to do is walk around side by side. The day following those is when MJ will tip off paparazzi agencies so they can snap shots of them walking together in Boulder. Gradually, they will incorporate hand-holding, hugging, and (GAH) kissing into their photo ops with the paparazzi. It's all very elaborate and orchestrated, and kind of nauseating to read about, if she's being honest.

_"Once the media is convinced that you are a couple, we'll just need to maintain the image for another two months, and then stage a break-up that can benefit you both."_

Austin, for his part, doesn't look any more enthused about this than she does, and that's a small comfort. MJ tells them to read, re-read, and memorize every page of the Manual in order to know what to do and say at all times. The worst thing than can happen, MJ tells them with a steely gaze, is for the media to find out that their relationship isn't real. That's something Kaylie can imagine; the backlash against a lie like that would bring the sort of infamy that overshadows any sports achievement. But when MJ expands that point to why they can't tell anyone-not their parents, not their siblings or friends-of this arrangement, Kaylie begins to think of the kind of effort it'll take to maintain things so top-secret. It's gonna be a long two months.

Once MJ finishes briefing them, she assures them that she'll be back in a few days, and will be monitoring their presence in the media daily. She then sends them off and boards her trailer, leaving Kaylie and Austin to grimly watch her drive away with her staff.

She can't really look at Austin at the moment. There's some embarrassment mixed with pessimism weighing her down, because this plan can't possibly work. Who in the world would buy them as a couple?

"_Deny it at first, but make sure not to be too believable. We want these people in the Rock to suspect your relationship, but you must not confirm it right away."_

If people indeed do believe it, come to think of it, she has a whole new set of problems to deal with: she's gonna be in _so_ much trouble with her parents. There'll be the whole deal with her friends thinking she's lost her mind for choosing to date another gymnast, but most of all, she's worried about how her parents will react. Things went horribly wrong with Carter, and he didn't even look like the cheating dog he really was—Austin, on the other hand, has "trouble" written all over him. She'll be grounded for about 80 years.

Yeah, agreeing to this was definitely not her smartest decision.

* * *

><p>It's the day after MJ's briefed them on Operation Fake Dating, and at first, Austin finds it strange that they don't spend a lot of time together during practice. Their agent told them that from this day on, they need to be seen together in increasing amounts (while denying, deliberately unconvincingly, that there's anything going on) but instead he finds that either Kaylie is avoiding him or she isn't making much of an effort to be seen with him. And isn't that the exact opposite of what MJ and the Manual ordered them?<p>

_"You will have exactly one day off each week for yourselves. The rest of the time, I want you two glued by the hip. You will have meals together, you will go to the movies together, shopping together, and you will not stay home, understand? You will go to very public places. At least until we can gain sufficient national momentum where the places you are seen in become an important enough issue that deals can be negotiated."_

When he makes his way to the chalk bowl and notices that Kaylie is distractedly approaching it too, he begins to imagine all sorts of questions to fire at her, like "why the hell are you avoiding me?" and "didn't you read the Manual?" But that's when he sees her face more clearly and realizes that she isn't avoiding him as much as she's very, very worried.

"Hey," he ventures carefully, in a low voice, letting her take some chalk first before slapping some in his own hands.

"Do you think it's gonna be hard?" she asks suddenly, looking at him with intense curiosity. "You know, to convince people that we're together?"

Austin pauses, frowning a bit. Is that what she's mulling over? "No... I think it'll be really easy. If we get caught enough times walking around together, people will already assume things. How fast does the gossip go around at the Rock?"

"Like the _wind_ is carrying it."

"Then we'll be fine," he assures her. His eyes settle on hers and an idea seizes him abruptly. Prompted by it, he slowly stretches out his hand and almost laughs when she stares at it with mild alarm. "I'm just testing something. Take it."

"Your hand. You want me to take your hand." Her incredulity and downright dread is all kinds of amusing to him. This is never the reaction he gets when he tries to hold a girl's hand. "Right here, covered in chalk. And besides, we're not supposed to be caught holding hands until our second photo op."

"Kaylie, just... take my hand. It's an experiment." He's tempted to explain to her that he just wants to check what kind of grip she has, but now it's become about something else entirely. He's bugged that she seems—could it be?—_insulted_ at the prospect of being linked to him. The operation has already begun and she still has her doubts. And it's also amazing that he's okay coaxing this out of her, insisting that she hold his hand—he'd usually never even have tried. Girls try to hold his hand, not him. "I'm not a leper, you know. You can touch me."

"Ha," she breathes out, obviously nervous, then slowly raises her hand and settles it in his. He's prepared to laugh at her gingerly manner, or do the cool thing and chuckle, but he stares at their joined hands as she's also doing. Holding her hand like that... feels odd. Not a bad odd, but he's not sure it's a good odd either. They fit well, and she has softer hands than he thinks gymnasts are supposed to have—he wouldn't know, really, since he doesn't go around holding gymnasts' hands—and they're also warm. Her grip is strangely affecting. It's almost like he really wants to pull his hand away, but he also doesn't want to let her hand go. Like, ever, if he can help it. This is definitely odd. Why can't he figure out—

"Well, well," says Lauren Tanner nearby, in a self-congratulatory and smug tone. Kaylie is the one that snatches her hand back first, but a millisecond later he's also performing the same movement. "I never thought you guys would be the PDA type."

"He was checking out one of my fingers," Kaylie explains without missing a beat, surprising him with how smoothly she comes up with that story. "I think I dislocated one of them after my bars."

"Yeah, I'd get it looked at, if I were you," he follows up, ignoring Tanner and training a focused look at Kaylie. She has a miniscule smile in her eyes at this private joke that he's glad to be sharing with her. It takes a lot out of him not to grin back. "Tell Sasha about it."

"Will do. Thanks." And as though they had actually planned this entire exchange, both of them turn on their heels and head their separate ways. He mentally high-fives Kaylie and laughs to himself. Maybe this can be fun.

* * *

><p>"Give me your number," Austin asks her as she's stepping out of the girl's locker room. She would have been startled by his abruptness, but some part of her had already been expecting him to be waiting for her.<p>

Kaylie waits until they're out of the gym, almost at her car, then turns to him. "Give me your phone and I'll type it in." He complies, and when she unlocks his cellphone screen, an image of his motorcycle pops up as his background picture. Kaylie can't help smiling, realizing she had braced herself in expectation of seeing some scantily-clad model posing on a car or something like that. "Nice picture," she murmurs as she punches in her number and her name.

"Oh, yeah, I have to change that," Austin states with a barely-visible smile as she returns him the phone. "Since you're the love of my life now."

His last words send a tiny tremor through her chest, but the sensation is gone quickly enough that it fades from her mind almost immediately. "Is that so? So I'm supposed to have a picture of you on my phone too?"

"Yep. And then tomorrow we'll get matching t-shirts and everything," he continues solemnly, only the glint of his eye betraying that he's teasing her.

It's then that she kind of hates how easy it is to fall into these bantering, semi-flirty conversations with him. She's never been this kind of girl; Lauren is. The zings, the witty flirting—all this is Lauren territory, but somehow, around Austin, Kaylie finds a brand of confidence she's not used to having, that enjoys these verbal tug-of-wars. And the worst part is how fun all of this is, and how addicting. She was exhausted from training for 14 hours, and all she had to do was talk to him to feel invigorated again.

"I'll find the most unflattering picture of you on the internet and make that my screensaver," she says softly, watching him break into a smile.

"Unfortunately the camera loves me so you won't find any such pictures."

"Watch me." She whips out her phone and hilariously, it only takes her about five seconds to Google a very unattractive picture of Austin in mid-blink, looking like he's either drunk or drowsy, or both. "See? Real sexy."

His horrified expression makes her laugh, much to his chagrin. Then, he pauses thoughtfully, takes out his phone again, and embraces her by his side.

"What are you doing?" she asks, still not quite recovered from her laughter.

"I think this is a better idea," he tells her, then raises his phone while pointing its camera lens down in their direction. "Say cheese." She hears a shutter sound and watches him lower his phone, still keeping her pressed against his side. She isn't expecting much from the photo, but the second her eyes appraise it, that tremor in her chest strikes her again. The laughter that had been pulling the corners of her mouth disappears slowly as she notices with a frown the genuine warmth in their smiles, the relaxed way in which he's resting his arm around her while simultaneously pulling her to him, her shoulder to his chest. Right then, as he's telling her that he'll text her the picture so she can have it and also save his number, she finds it hard to focus on anything but a single thought: whatever is going on between her and Austin, be it chemistry or just the beginning of a beautiful friendship, it's odd. Very, very odd.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks for all the reviews, guys! They're so encouraging and incredibly flattering! I hope you continue to enjoy this story :)**


	4. Flirting

**A/N: The first part is a series of texts. And by the way, thanks for the awesome reviews and support. I appreciate all your input, author/story alerts, and hope you continue to enjoy this story.**

**CHAPTER 4: Flirting**

-hey Kaylie.

-Morning, Austin.

-today is when we're supposed to be all flirting and stuff right?

-Yeah. I hope we're convincing.

-well at least on my part we're covered, since i'm awesome at flirting (as I am at everything).

-And it's nice that you're humble about it too.

-i like when your sarcastic. and don't be jealous :)

-You're such a boy. Hey, what are we doing after training?

-what do you wanna do?

-If MJ hasn't sent the paparazzi yet, maybe you can help me pick up some equipment from a store downtown.

-i don't think she has, so don't worry, we're not gonna be seen before the right time. i'll help you. what did you buy?

-Another stand for my beam. Just the metal part. And I have to stock up on my protein supplements too.

-yeah I was gonna ask you what good stores you guys have here for that.

-Great. We'll go tomorrow then. See you at the Rock in a few.

-see you, Kaylie.

* * *

><p>Kaylie doesn't let herself panic until she steps out of the locker room and stands face to face with a Austin next to the water cooler. Her friends are going to witness a truly horrifying scene about to take place, and she has to take lots of deep, steadying breaths in order to control her speeding heart.<p>

Austin smiles at her and offers her a cup of water, which she gingerly takes. That's when he registers a minuscule frown, but doesn't say anything. Instead, he watches her as she takes a small sip and avoids looking at him. She knows what he's thinking–"what the hell is she doing?"–and she wants to explain to him that because she knows her friends will be aghast, she's having somewhat of a harder time settling into "flirty/giggly" Kaylie.

She feels him lean forward until his mouth is next to her cheek, and hears him whisper, "do you want me to take the lead?" His warm breath tickles her and sends a strangely pleasurable shiver down her body, but she's still thinking about her friends watching this and judging her.

"You just did," she murmurs back, watching him intently when he backs away with a grin.

"You look great today, Cruz." His voice is just loud enough that passersby can hear him, without looking like he's broadcasting his words, so that's when Kaylie knows that the plan has begun. She braces herself. "Is that a new leotard or what?"

Kaylie blinks a few times, unsure of what to say. Is that how he flirts? "Um. No. I've had it for a few months."

"I like how the pink brings out your cheeks."

She has to perform a double-take then. He can't be serious. "Thanks... Austin..." It figures that with their luck, their first go at this whole flirting business would be the most awkward conversation any two human beings have ever carried in all of history.

"You're not flirting back," he whispers out of the corner of his mouth, and she scowls in response.

"You're not really flirting, though, are you?" she whispers back, then pulls him by the sleeve into the empty corner between the water cooler and the viewing room. There's no secluded place they can go to so this is the best she can manage. "Austin! That was awful!"

He's indignant, and looks profoundly annoyed by her accusation. "Well, you're not helping, are you? Do you even know how to flirt?"

His question gives her pause. She has to actually look to the side and ponder on this. Has she ever really flirted with anyone? Her only boyfriend was Carter, and he did all the work... then she had that weird almost-something-more with Nicky... which didn't involve any flirting either, unless uncomfortable, sexually-tense looks count. So, in reality– "Oh my God, Austin. The only person I've ever flirted with is you." She raises a head to her temple and feels a headache coming on.

"You never flirt with me."

"I do..." She keeps her eyes closed, still wincing at her own admission. "When I make fun of you, that's me flirting..." It's so embarrassing to be realizing this when she's almost 18 years old, that she buries her face in her hands, and says, her words muffled, "I'm a horrible flirt."

"Yes, you are," he agrees, and his laughter makes lower her hands and shoot him an aggravated glare that shuts him right up. "I can teach you. We can still pull this off."

"We don't have time, we'll just do the flirting thing tomorrow," she counters with a disanimated sigh.

Austin isn't having it, and as though pretending he never heard her last sentence, he says, "what you do is you tell me how hot I look in these shorts."

Kaylie is so astounded by his direction that she chokes back a laugh.

"I do _what_?"

"That's the key to flirting. It starts with a compliment." His smile has no detectable malice, which leads her to believe that against all reason, he's actually serious about this.

She tries to say it in her head—_you look hot in these shorts_—and can't even get past the "you look" part.

"You've got to be joking."

"Come on, say it," he encourages her, and it's when she observes his eagerness, how uncharacteristically earnest he's being at the possibility of helping her with something he thinks he's so great at, that nudges her past her speechless disbelief, and straight into laughing at the ridiculousness of this situation.

It starts with a giggle, maybe, but within seconds she's chortling openly, and it only takes Austin a quick, amused shake of his head to join her. She feels freer, and more relaxed than she has in a while, and makes her thankful that as stressful as this year is going to be, she has Austin with her.

Emboldened by her newfound glee, she straightens, looks into his eyes, and trying her absolute best not to crack up again, manages to say, "you look hot in these shorts" before they both burst out laughing again.

"All right, you've had your fun," Austin chuckles, then hugs her to his side again, like he had done the night before for the picture. "I can't believe you can't say it!" He squeezes her shoulder with the arm he has around her and she melts into it comfortably, not thinking about why she's (almost) used to this sort of thing between them.

They part and now that she's fully recovered from laughter, she can reply with a smile to match his own, "I'll try harder next time, I promise."

"Right."

"No, really," she insists, and then, almost laughing again, she adds happily, "I'll practice it at home and everything."

"Why is it so hard for you to tell me I'm hot?" He has genuine curiosity, so she tosses the joke she's thought of telling him—"because I can't lie"—and instead sticks with the truth.

"Well, you don't just tell someone they're hot."

"Yeah, you do," he argues back. "Kaylie, you're really hot."

She feels her face blushing in spite of herself.

"Well fine, you can do it," she allows, "but I can't. Or maybe I could—can't I say 'nice' instead of hot?"

Frowning, he steps closer to her and suddenly she's aware of his body heat and his scent, which unnerves her slightly because weren't they hugging just a second ago? So why weren't things weird then, while now they seem to be so close to dangerous territory?

"But you do think I'm hot, right?" Austin asks, and now his posture and tone are completely different; he's betraying investment in her response. This sort of vulnerability is so rare in Austin; either she's learning how to read him better, or he's loosening up considerably around her.

She still can't resist teasing him. "Well..."

His eyebrows shoot up in his forehead with alarm. "Handsome?"

"Um..."

"Attractive? Mildly attractive?"

Her mouth twitches, suppressing a smile. "Decent."

A silent second crawls by; she watches him with, no doubt, a gaze far less steady than she means to, while he's studying her with a scrutinizing stare. She can't pretend she's being serious. There's the fact that she's an awful liar, compounded by the fact that his looks have garnered universal praise—the ruse is up. His knowing grin assures her that she put forth a good effort.

But perhaps because this is as fun to him as it is to her, he carries on with the joke.

"So I'm decent, huh."

"Don't let it get you down; I'm sure plenty of girls dig decent looks paired with biker vests and leather pants." He releases a hearty laugh that causes her entire body to buzz with excitement.

"Biker vests and tight pants," he repeats, shaking his head and appraising her with the same large smile she's flattered to not have seen directed at anyone except her. "Sounds like the sexiest man in the world."

"Or a member of the Village People," she retorts, and they both laugh this time. "I guess I'm lucky to be dating such a catch." Gently, she touches a few his fingers with her much smaller hand. He slowly turns his hand and runs his thumb against her skin.

"So this is how you flirt." His statement, though delivered through a faint murmur, dampers her smile for a second, before he adds, "I don't need to teach you anything. You're great."

She's going to thank him but he brushes his thumb against her hand again, tracing a soft pattern that reminds her that they haven't let go of each other yet. And hadn't she been terrified of being seen by her friends and having to dodge questions until it became obvious—what with all the magazine exposes and everything—that she's with Austin now?

"_Ahem._" Kaylie glances to the side instantly and catches sight of a not-very-amused Sasha. She and Austin jump apart like a gunshot has gone off.

"Sorry," she blurts out, while Austin is more eloquent, stating evenly, "we'll go right back to training."

"Yes, you two do that," Sasha agrees sternly, wearing the sort of disapproving furrow in his brow that scares her into dashing off for the vault like her life depends on it.

They avoid each other for the next hour, acutely aware of Sasha's surveillance. For some reason she figured MJ would have cleared things up with their coach, seeing as there's a no-dating rule and all, but apparently not. So that's another check in her list of things to regret about signing up for this scheme.

Maybe it's to punish them, or maybe he just wants to make sure she and Austin have no time to be idling by in the gym holding hands, but Sasha decides that she's ready for a more advanced mount on her beam and goes on to instruct Austin to try out some weird new maneuver on the even bars. As a result of that, they spend the next several hours in completely opposite sides of the gym—not that Kaylie notices, since the new mount proves to be much more challenging than she expected.

"Kaylie," she hears Payson call behind her, and, shaking off an uneasy feeling, she turns and smiles at her friend, eyes flickering to Austin's flips and turns on the even bars. "How have you been? Haven't seen you... in a while."

She can't help being distracted by Austin's routine. His precision, speed, and the sheer force of his movements make him a riveting watch, and she has to consciously steer her eyes back to a frowning Payson, and come up with an appropriate response to that curious statement.

"Right. We've both been busy."

"Everything okay with you?"

"Of course." Even to her own ears, she sounds forced. It's been less than 48 hours since she had a conversation with Payson—a real one—but during that time, a lot seems to have happened, and Kaylie wishes with a pang in her chest that she could tell everything to Payson and just have a friend tell her she's not crazy. "I've just been distracted."

"You don't say. Listen, if this is about Austin—"

A red flag pops up in her brain and Kaylie interrupts her immediately. "It's not." It is. She's lying to her best friend. "Don't be worried about me. There's nothing going on."

"Because you can tell me—"

"There's nothing to tell."

Her gaze returns to Austin, as a magnet would to its opposite, and as she watches the last flip of his dismount, she momentarily forgets her tense exchange with the friend standing beside her, and instead holds her breath intently, only releasing it when she sees and hears him stick his landing. Flooded by a mix of relief and pride, she allows herself a quick second to appreciate the fact that the best living male gymnast is training right there in front of her—and is officially at least, dating her—before recovering and reminding herself that this is still Austin Tucker, and she isn't supposed to be one of his star-struck fans. When she turns to speak to Payson once again, she's at the chalk bowl a few feet away, talking to both Emily and Lauren. None of them look at her, or at Austin, and Kaylie doesn't know whether to be comforted or uneasy about this.

Well, she has a few days before all hell breaks loose. "Might as well enjoy them," she mumbles under her breath, the performs a quick scan of the area and places Sasha inside the office, on the telephone. She hopes she has enough time to avoid the coach's watchful eye when she briskly makes her way to the even bars, pretending she's heading to the uneven bars, and approaches Austin.

"Great routine," she compliments quickly, but doesn't give him time to pair his grin with a worded response. "I know a good place for lunch today. And we can plan some things out."

"All right," he nods, with what she likes to think is honest excitement. "I'll wait for you."

She's stepping away, then notices Max nearby, that friend of Austin that she hasn't had a chance to talk to yet (but who she's noticed is always making moon eyes at Payson). Figuring that they have an audience, and she might as well do the flirting now that they were unable to do before, she clears her throat quietly and says, hoping her voice is steady and clear, "by the way, Austin... you look decent in those shorts."

The look on his face, Kaylie thinks as she's turning away, was totally worth it.


	5. Practice

**A/N: a longer chapter, to make up for the wait. :) Please enjoy and review!**

**CHAPTER 5: Practice**

It's finally their lunch break and Austin is waiting for Kaylie outside the gym, standing in the parking lot by his car and lazily basking in the sunlight when Max approaches him with a tense smile.

"What's up, man?" Austin asks his friend with a friendly nod.

"Who are you waiting for? Kaylie Cruz?"

"Yeah. She's taking me somewhere to eat."

Max has always been the worrier between the two of them; the one who has cab companies on speed dial for when they go out drinking, the one who carries supplies, dried foods, and bottles of water in his trunk in case of an emergency. That apprehension, such a large part of what Austin associates with his friend, is in full display right now.

"You guys seem to be hanging out a lot nowadays."

For a moment, Austin considers the statement and how much it sounds like a question. He wonders whether he can come clean with his friend; tell him just how bad the backlash was regarding the models, and what MJ's plan was to salvage the situation. But if Kaylie (someone naturally prone to gossiping with her girlfriends) hasn't uttered a word about this to anyone, how can he? Max, as trustworthy as he is, will just have to be fooled along with the rest of the world.

Austin takes a moment to compose every part of his face and body, then states steadily, "I think I like her."

He expects Max to react a certain way—shock—and his friend definitely doesn't disappoint, looking like Austin has punched him or at least grown a second head. "You _like_ like her?"

"Yeah. She's..." He needs to sound very convincing, so he summons an image of Kaylie in his mind. Bright smile, caramel skin, infectious laugh... and then, unwillingly, he recalls all the times he's held her hand. His own hand twitches at the memory, and for some reason his breathing is getting a tad bit uneven. Suddenly, he's uneasy. "Great. She's just really great."

"Wow. Okay," Max murmurs, still staring at him as though expecting him to confess that he's joking. "I can think of one person who's not going to be very happy."

"They'll get along," Austin assures him.

"Yeah, I don't think they will. They never have, and they've known each other for years." Max takes a brief look behind him, and when Austin follows his gaze, he sees Kaylie stepping out and chatting with Payson and Lauren, with Emily not far behind. "She hates those girls. And she thinks Kaylie is the worst."

Austin stops watching Kaylie, and instead, studies his friend with growing dismay. Lying isn't hard, and never will be, but it is unpleasant. "They'll get along," he repeats distractedly.

* * *

><p>"We're going to that salad place on Main St.," Lauren is telling her, and although Kaylie is slightly annoyed that apparently her three friends made all sorts of plans without her, she realizes she can't exactly fault them for that, seeing as how she hasn't been spending much time with them at all. In fact, she should be thankful they're even talking to her now. "Where are you having lunch?" All three of them turn to her—Payson and Emily look at her with hopeful excitement, while Lauren seems to expect her answer, and is probably delighted at the chance to make her feel uncomfortable.<p>

Kaylie sighs and braces herself for their reactions. "I'm going to lunch with Austin."

Just as she anticipated, Payson and Emily frown while Lauren grins smugly.

Payson is the first to speak up; her tone is gentler than Kaylie expects, and genuinely curious. "Really? You haven't been spending enough time with him in the gym, and you want to have lunch with him too?"

"Let her hang out with her new boyfriend," Lauren shrugs.

"He's not my boyfriend," Kaylie snaps, instantly recalling that she's not supposed to mean it when she's saying this—she's supposed to smile or giggle, or shuffle on her feet, or something, so it seems like she's lying. But the way she's just denied Lauren's playful accusation, she sounds firm and certain. Crap.

"What is he then?" Emily asks, and Kaylie is thankful that she too, seems to be more curious than inquisitorial.

"A friend. A good friend. He's nice." She swallows hard. Truth is, she's never planned what she was going to say to her friends once they asked her about Austin. This entire scheme has been blue-printed from start to finish, but right now she has to improvise. "He's funny, and really smart. Smarter than he looks. And he's nice. Helpful. He doesn't take himself that seriously. He can be humble—actually, he is humble most of the time. He puts up this front, like he's all ego and sex, but there's more to him, like layers underneath that, or something. He tries to be nice to people. He cares about people and their feelings. If you talk to him, you start to notice it. He's..." She trails off when she sees that even the usually stoic Emily is registering some horror and shock, matching the horror and shock in Payson and Lauren's faces. Was she rambling? She was, wasn't she.

"You guys are dating, aren't you?" Lauren whispers, making Kaylie blink a few times while wondering whether her friend actually means that question, because it should be a joke. And yet, it's not being delivered like a joke. And also, no one is laughing.

"Of course not. Didn't you hear me? I said we're friends." Yes, in a few days their relationship will be revealed to the world and all this insisting she's doing right now will be revealed to be just a bunch of lies she's telling her friends, but right then, Kaylie can't bring herself to care. She's telling the truth, and she needs her friends to believe her. Before things spiral out of control and her life becomes a mess, she wants to enjoy her friendship with these girls. "Are we still on for the sleepover tonight?"

"We were going to ask you about that, actually," Payson says, looking just as relieved as she is to be changing the subject. "My house at 7?"

Kaylie finally relaxes enough to smile. Avoiding Lauren's eye roll, she replies "sounds good," and turns to meet Austin at the other end of the parking lot. In the back of her mind, a single thought bothers her: she's a liar. That's all she is.

* * *

><p>"There it is; park here, Austin," he hears her instruct, and obediently parks his truck in front of a hardware supply store. Turning to look at her, he watches her fish out some papers from her purse; he can't help noticing a soft breeze from the open window playing with her hair—it's usually tied, a slick ponytail placing an emphasis on the angles of her cheeks, but now that it's loose, he gets to see different strands framing her face. She looks a lot younger like that.<p>

Frowning, he redirects his attention to exiting the car and making his way to the other side, to open her door. She's distracted, reading a receipt that he assumes is from the store they're about to go to; she shifts her body to slide off the seat and exit but just before she does, Kaylie turns her gaze to him instead, and their eyes meet in and clash strangely, sending a wave of unease through him. The strangest part, he thinks immediately, is that she doesn't notice.

"We can go eat from there," she tells him with a simple, easy smile. A strand of hair is nudged loose by the wind again, but she quickly tucks it back behind her ear. "There's a great smoothie shop right beside it. See?" He actually has to fight himself to tear his eyes away from her and look at whatever place she's pointing to, and it's hard to figure out why. Sure, she's good-looking. A nice body, an awesome face. But she's not like... abnormally gorgeous or anything... well, there are these moments, maybe like right now, in which—

Oh, she's already stepped away from the truck and is almost inside the store.

"What are we picking up again?"

"A new stand for my beam," she replies, and now they're finally at the store's counter. There are various gymnastics pieces lying around, as well as other sports equipment, but the sight of a stack of bronze still rings reminds him that he needs to buy some new ones for his personal gym. "Hey, Eddie." Her greeting calls his attention to a young man behind the counter, a young blond boy who's staring at Kaylie as though she's just about the hottest girl that has ever walked into his shabby store. Austin refrains from glaring—as if someone of Kaylie's caliber would ever even consider a little boy like this. "I came here to pick up the stand."

"I can load it on my truck," Austin offers immediately, and the young boy jerks as though he's just then noticed that there's another person in the room.

Eddie has him follow him to the warehouse in the back while Kaylie waits at the truck. Austin doesn't attempt any sort of small talk during the few minutes they're walking together, but it's while they're lifting up the beam stand together that Eddie decides to talk to him directly.

"You're Austin Tucker, right? You won the gold at the Olympics." Austin nods a response as they begin to carry the stand towards the back exit, only a few feet away. "Do you know Kaylie Cruz?"

Austin rolls his eyes, already uncomfortable with the angle he's been reduced to in this endeavor—Eddie is a lot shorter than him, so his end of the stand is significantly lower than his. His back is starting to complain, but thank God the truck is already within sight.

"Yeah, I know her," he replies monotonely, then looks at Kaylie, who is now holding two large Styrofoam cups in her hands.

By the way the boy is fidgeting, eyes averting from the ground to the stand, to Austin's arms, then back to the floor, Austin can guess where the conversation is going. "She's really nice."

"She's also my girlfriend." There. Nipped that in the bud.

Eddie's momentary halt is what gives away his surprise, because in everything else, he looks quite composed. Maybe, he thinks, the boy already expected Austin to lay a claim to her. And Austin doesn't care that MJ instructed specifically that they wouldn't be "a couple" until two weeks from now; this boy seriously needed to lay off. And who is he going to tell anyway?

They arrive at the truck and manage to lay the heavy stand smoothly on the truckbed. Eddie leaves quickly, and Kaylie watches his dash with a frown.

"I was going to tip him," she murmurs, and Austin holds back a smug smirk. "Here's your smoothie."

"What flavor did you get for me?"

"Olives, of course," she says, playing with the straw in her cup and smiling. "Fine, it's just a banana protein mix. I wasn't sure what you'd want."

He leans against the truck and studies the stores across the street, as she's doing. A quick taste of his drink, and he finds it more delicious than he expected. "This is pretty good." They're not sitting down, but he's comfortable and is pleasantly swept by a wave of calm and contentment. "What did you get?"

"Mango."

"I want that next time."

"I already know what to get you next time. Something with jalapenos in it."

He turns to look at her, intending to shoot her an annoyed glare, but as she's done the same, they end up exchanging a laugh before focusing back on the shops across the sleepy street.

"Today," she begins quietly, her murmured tone perking his ears, "is our last free day before we have to start pretending we're together."

"Tomorrow is when MJ is sending the paparazzi," he agrees. "At least we won't have to do anything major for them. Just holding hands, or a hug."

"Yeah..." she breathes out, drinking from her cup again. "What is Sasha having you do on the bars?"

"I'm modifying my last maneuver, that's all," Austin replies, blinking slowly and feeling as though his thoughts are melting or evaporating. It worries him, when this happens; when his self-control slips and he says things he hasn't thought about at least twice. "What would you be if you weren't a gymnast?"

He doesn't have time to regret the question, because she sighs quietly, then looks at him, and then her melancholic, heart-wrenching gaze is all that fills his brain.

"I think about that... and I don't know. There seems to be a lot of time to figure it out, but then it doesn't seem like there is. Sometimes I wonder if it'd be better to quit while I'm ahead, before I start losing. But then what am I gonna do? I can't figure that out."

"That's my problem with gymnastics, you know?" He's not this guy. He doesn't talk about his insecurities, his flaws. But for the first time in a very, very long while, it seems easy to put these dark thoughts into words, especially the fears that weigh so heavily in his chest, for someone else to hear besides his own reflection in the mirror. "We reach the top so young. Look how young we are. And now we're almost at the point where our dreams and our life stop being in front of us and start being behind us."

Just then, in a quick blur, a woman has given Kaylie some sort of coupon, before marching away to hand out another coupon to a man walking nearby.

"Five dollars off a men's haircut at that barber shop over there," Kaylie reads to him, motioning towards a very small, brightly-colored store. "You should definitely consider taking advantage of this, Austin."

Relieved, and almost too much so, by the change in conversation, he turns to her with his best scowl. "Don't tell me you don't like my hair."

"Austin, your hair looks one inch away from Edward Cullen territory."

Now he doesn't have to fake being insulted—he actually is. "What! My hair is perfect. I get a lot of chicks with this 'do."

"I'm just saying," she explains, looking very much like she's enjoying him flustered, "that you wouldn't have gotten _this _chick with that 'do. And I think we should look convincing. Have you looked into buying clothing that isn't made of leather?"

He laughs with disbelief. "What do you want me to wear? Vests?"

"You could try some on, and see," she shrugs, laughing with him and placing a hand on his forearm. The touch burns him, but he shakes that sensation away.

"I'll wear a vest tomorrow if you wear a short dress."

"I will _not_ dress like a slut."

"And I will _not_ dress like a nerd." She narrows her eyes at his retort, but she also has a bright, wonderfully distracting smile that he can't help returning. And this, he thinks briefly, is what Kaylie Cruz has been doing to him lately—making his jaw hurt from smiling so frequently, and so widely. "I'm just saying," he begins, echoing her earlier words, "that you wouldn't have gotten _this _guy by covering up so much."

"So what is your suggestion, exactly?" Clearly interested, she leans in and he notices that they're standing a lot closer now than they were before, when he was talking about their smoothies, and not... flirting with her.

"I'll get a haircut if you wear a short dress tomorrow."

"Austin..." she says warningly, but he plows on.

"Okay, how about I'll get the haircut and I'll wear whatever you want me to, but you show me some cleavage."

"AUSTIN!"

She slaps his arm, and it sounds loud and violent, but all he feels is a light tap. Kaylie is laughing, but her eyes are wide with scandal.

"Stop being such a boy!"

He sighs, exaggerating his disappointment. Watching her with a grin, he announces solemnly, "fine, I give up. I'll get the haircut and wear a stupid vest, and you can just wear whatever you want. It's lucky you look hot in anything." That last part was an accidental addition, but his fast-rising panic is dampered when she laughs it off. "What are you planning for the rest of the day?"

"Well, after we get out of the gym, the girls and I are having a sleepover."

"Really?" he asks with interest, and Kaylie rolls her eyes. He decides he really likes it when she gets annoyed. "And where, pray tell, will this sleepover take place?"

"Let me just explain to you that all of us will be fully dressed in baggy, ugly pajamas, and there won't be any pillow-fighting or anything remotely like what I know is going on in your gutter mind."

"How boring," he accuses lightly, anticipating another slap from her, and waving off a small pang of disappointment when she doesn't react as he predicted. "And this is at your house? Where do you live anyway?"

"It's at Payson's," she says, and at that moment, he hears his phone's text message alert ring out while her phone vibrates. He snatches his phone from his pocket and blinks back surprise when his eyes survey his phone's screen image—that picture he took with Kaylie at the Rock's parking lot the day before. He forget it had been there, and by her continued study of her screen as well, he deduces that he wasn't the only one. "I got a text from MJ... checking in on us."

"Same here," he confirms after reading his own text. "I told you I'm buying a house closer to the gym, right?"

She nods, packing away her phone. "Did you decide where?"

"Sort of... but I was gonna ask whether you could help me pick out some decoration stuff."

To be honest, he already has a mental picture on what he wants his new home to look like—just like all his other previous homes, which is cool and bachelor-y—but it seems like spending time with Kaylie isn't an altogether bad experience. It might be the exact opposite, in fact. It makes him glad that Kaylie is to be his pretend-girlfriend, and not someone whose company he'd dread.

"Sure, I'll help. Tomorrow is a full day, though," she points out, laying that same damn hand on his forearm, like she's steadying herself. "Aren't you nervous?"

"A bit. How good are you at lying and improvising?"

"Getting better at lying," she admits with a moody shrug, "not very good at improvising. Which is what kind of terrifies me about the operation; that we'll fail and it'll be my fault, because no one will buy it."

"That's why the Manual tells us to practice," Austin tells her, slowly removing his mind from the warmth of her hand and placing it entirely on their conversation, due to its importance. "What worries you the most?"

Kaylie shifts on her feet, and in a manner unlike her, avoids his eyes, purses her lips, and basically looks like she wants to run away from his presence completely.

"The kissing."

The moment that sentence leaves her mouth, he considers it, and considers her stance, and compares their experience.

Kissing is just kissing—that's how he was looking at it. It's possible, and often even easy, to remove feelings from the equation and be left with the physical component, which is just lips moving against lips. All he had to do, he'd figured, was ensure that he didn't feel anything, and their kissing would be just that: nothing. But the fact that she's nervous about it, debating it in her head, and letting it plant reluctance in her actions, makes him double-guess himself. Obviously, kissing is sometimes not just kissing.

But it has to be, in this scenario.

"Kissing isn't a big deal, Kaylie."

"I'm not sure about that," she tells him, raising an eyebrow. "And what if it looks too obvious that we're faking it?"

"It won't."

"What if it does?"

Is it all right to feel a tinge of annoyance that she's questioning him so much? Obviously, he knows more about this than she does. "It won't, Cruz. If you're so worried about it, then we'll practice."

That takes aback. Even her hand slides off his arm. "Practice it."

"Yeah. Like we do in the gym. You practice it, it becomes easy, and you do it perfectly when it's time to do it, right?"

"Right...?"

He just wants to tell her that when she grows older, or gets the experience he has from dealing with so many of the opposite sex, she'll see that kissing and sex are more often not based in the flutter-in-your-chest, can't-breathe-properly kind of emotion. He wants to assure her that she won't feel anything. But because he's well aware that underneath her bright, large eyes, that self-questioning half-smile, and the lovely shade of blush in her caramel skin, all she has is doubt about the things he's saying, he decides showing is better than telling. And that's what makes him lean forward and down, ignoring her widening eyes, place a hand on her neck and another on her waist, and press his lips, as softly as he can, on hers. It's not supposed to be a very deep kiss, or a long one. The way he plans it, it's going to be short but satisfying, like all things in his life.

But it's a little deeper than he expects, and a little longer. It's partly because Kaylie tenses, and he wants to wait until she relaxes to break the kiss. It's also because she ends up having really, really soft lips, and a mouth that tastes like sweet mangoes.

But mostly, it's because he feels a flutter in his chest, and that's when he notices that right then, he can't breathe properly.


	6. Exposure

**CHAPTER 6: Exposure**

A shitty, shitty day. That's what Kaylie had been having. Her mood had become irreparably foul the moment her friends cornered her and basically interrogated her on Austin. The problem she'd had with that isn't that they apparently thought she was lying, but because she realized she really was a liar. Why should her friends believe anything she was saying? And then the terrible fact that this would only worsen-she was going to keep on lying to them, right? For the next two months, she'd be acting out some script and deceiving her friends and family. What the hell had she gotten into?

As they drove to the hardware store to pick up her beam stand, Kaylie debated backing out of the plan, and explaining to MJ and Austin that this whole farce was too much for her. It seemed like a small lie, pretending she was dating someone, but in many ways, it wasn't small at all-it required an actual lifestyle change.

By the time Austin was loading the stand onto his truck and they were sipping their smoothies, Kaylie had calmed down enough to ponder on whether she was overreacting. Two months isn't really a lot of time, and maybe it's better for her career if people know her name, at least, and are aware that she's won something significant. Fame, in this case, wouldn't be that bad—she's been working her whole life to accomplish something in this harrowing sport.

When Austin tells her about his problem with gymnastics, Kaylie feels something flow into place inside her mind. He's an Olympic champion, credentials fully established by his golden medals, and yet is unsettled by the same fears that rattle her. And that grounds her, at least, and makes her glance his way, analyze the cool and carefree way in which he lives his days, and suddenly, she feels a strange sort of attachment to him. It's a sensation resembling admiration, mixed in with genuine fondness—it's almost like a crush, but thank God it isn't, because that's the last thing she needs: to like the guy she's pretending to like.

All these thoughts mold her to feel comfortable around him, and appreciate (instead of resent) the confident, flirty Kaylie she is around him. She admits her qualms about the fake kissing to him, because if even holding his hand took a while for her to get better at, she can't even imagine how kissing is going to be. But she figures she has time to get used to the idea of kissing him before they actually have to do the deed-they don't have to be "caught" kissing until two weeks from now. That's plenty of time, right?

No... not really.

She ends up not having that long. She ends up with his hand warm against her neck, his body flush against hers. She ends up with his lips on her lips. She ends up holding her breath. She ends up with the oddest sensation that she's forgetting things; where they are, who she is, something they're supposed to be doing...

She ends up kissing him back, deepening it briefly, before pulling away and watching him open his eyes very slowly to return her gaze.

His eyes are gray. Not green. How did she never notice that?

"I think we're good," she mumbles, still slightly out of breath, because she can't think of anything else to say and 'you're an awesome kisser' is out of the question.

"What... the..." he mumbles with a deep frown, and looks at her strangely, making her wonder whether he didn't like the kiss. It wasn't like she put a lot of effort into it, she worries quickly. Austin's frown settles into something resembling a mix of horror and disbelief, and before their proximity becomes any more awkward, Kaylie finds herself disentangling from his arms, alarmed that they seemed to have wrapped their limbs around each other without her noticing. At least they got this out of the way, she thinks, even if still worried about how bad of a kisser he must think she is.

"So, that was a good idea," Kaylie continues, mind now wandering to the gym, and whether their lunch break is already over. "You know, practicing. Hey, do you know what time it is?"

Is Austin staring at her? Jesus Christ, was she that terrible? "Um, it's two."

"Crap, we have to go back." She makes her way to the passenger side of the truck, then turns back and notices him still standing there, watching her blankly.

_Fine!_ she wants to yell out, suddenly. _I'm not as good at it as you are. You were perfect and you tasted like bananas and sugar, and I was bad, but so what? We're just pretending!_

Then she shakes her head clear, because she's just ranted inside her mind, and that's not something she does. Not ever. She's not as cool and composed as him, but she's not a complete wreck either.

"Do you want me to drive, Austin?"

That spurs him to action. "No, I'll drive, don't worry." Silently, he opens her door for her and goes on to avoid looking and talking to her during the whole trip back to the Rock.

By the time they arrive, Kaylie is thoroughly annoyed. Austin is an idiot. He could at least act like the kiss was nothing major. Maybe even joke around about how horrible she was, because then at least she'd get a chance to explain that she hasn't really kissed anyone since Carter, and maybe she's out of shape, so to say. She also imagined that she could agree to practice it a little bit more before they start doing it in public. Wasn't he the one who told her, and very confidently, that kissing was just kissing? That it isn't a big deal? So why the hell is he acting like this, not saying a word to her?

Fine then—she won't kiss him at all unless they absolutely have to, since she's so awful. She really hopes he's happy!

She does her best to storm out of the truck without looking like she's storming out, and on her way in, meets up with Emily, who seems to be engrossed in a newspaper.

"What are you reading?" Kaylie asks her, less out of actual interest and more in order to distract herself from the moron she's made the mistake of attaching herself to.

"Did you hear about the Denver arsonist?"

"No, I haven't," she replies, smiling tersely, tuning out Emily's subsequent explanation.

All she's going to do, for the rest of the day, is train her new routines. No Austin, and certainly no "practicing" anything. Tomorrow the world as she knows it is going to be flipped on its head, so she can use a few more hours of calm before the storm hits.

Her last thought as she's slapping powder on her hands and eyeing the uneven bars, is that she wouldn't have actually minded kissing him some more. Not in a weird romantic way—of course—but just... he's a great kisser. It was a great kiss.

But she sucked and he was an idiot about it, and that's that.

* * *

><p>Austin lingers in the locker room after training is over and every other gymnast has showered and changed and left for the day. He can't risk running into Kaylie. Not just because she's apparently pissed off at him—why? He's the one who should be mad!—but because... if he gets too close to her, then he might... he might want to kiss her again.<p>

No, he wants to kiss her _right now_, and she's not even in the gym anymore. He wants to kiss her _right now_, and he hasn't even as much as touched her in hours.

He must be losing his mind. Angrily, he sits down on the bench in front of his locker and releases an aggravated sigh. Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it.

That fucking kiss and that tiny smile she gave him afterwards won't fucking leave his mind.

Fuck. He needs to fix this.

How can he fix this? It was just a kiss! No big deal! He's kissed dozens and dozens of girls—what makes Kaylie so fucking special that he's actually craving her?

Think, Austin.

_Exposure_. That's what he needs. He just needs to kiss her again. She's not that great of a kisser—she can't be. She doesn't have the experience he has. The kiss didn't last very long, and she was even kind of lazy about it, if he's really examining it; she didn't do much, did she? So if he kisses her again, and she blows it—because of course she'll be pretty terrible; there's no way she'll be any good at it—then he'll be cured. He'll be able to extract these fucking awful cravings from his mind.

Yes, that's he needs!

Resolutely, he finally leaves the gym and drives off to Payson's house.

* * *

><p>Lauren and Emily are in the kitchen, getting their snacks ready, while Kaylie is comfortably settled between two huge pillows in the Keeler's living room, lazily watching Payson sorting through a pile of DVDs.<p>

Yawning, she hears Payson ask her for a movie suggestion, and she replies with a small laugh, "Lauren will complain no matter what we pick."

"You're right," Payson agrees, sighing and turning to her with a smile. "What do you say we put on a horror movie?"

"Last time she freaked out and didn't let us sleep, Pay."

"Exactly." The two trade laughs, and Payson apparently gives up on her mission and plops down beside Kaylie. Grateful for the company, Kaylie rests her head on Payson's shoulder and is slowly being dragged into drowsiness when she hears Payson murmur something that she doesn't quite catch.

"What did you say?" Kaylie mumbles back, reluctantly raising her head and looking at her friend through half-closed eyes.

"You're not really dating Austin, are you?"

Immediately, that jolts her awake. "Is Lauren still on this?"

"Not just Lauren," Payson tells her cautiously. "Everybody, pretty much."

Kaylie purses her lips, unsure of where she should take this conversation. If she ever had to choose someone to tell everything in her life to, undoubtedly her pick would be Payson. She's never felt more tempted in her life to tell anyone anything—she can literally feel her tongue itching to unroll, eager to spill everything.

"I... um..." What is she doing? What is she saying? "It's, um..."

Her phone vibrates in her pajama pocket and startles her. Hurriedly, she excuses herself to the hallway at the entrance, flooded by relief and simultaneously, by guilt. She's such an awful friend.

_-I need to talk to you._

Austin is texting her? After ignoring her in the car ride and avoiding her at the gym like she was a leper, he's texting her?

-Why?

_-I'm almost at Payson's house. Meet me outside_

She's so surprised and horrified by this development that she audibly scoffs, calling the attention of both Emily and Lauren, who are walking back to the living room together, carrying trays of cookies and fruits.

"I'll be right there," Kaylie assures with a forced smile, swallowing hard when they shake their heads and continue on their way. Once they're out of sight, she begins to type a reply (something along the lines of, "are you high?") when she remembers with horror that Austin is the sort of person who'll ring the bell if he doesn't find her outside. And then all her friends will see him!

Instantly, she flings the door open, shuts it quickly behind her, and stands at the porch. She begins to regret her unthinking response immediately when a cold draft reveals the flimsiness of her pajamas.

When she spots his car pulling up, merely a second later, she walks quickly to the sidewalk and waits until he brakes completely and rolls down his window.

"Are you out of your mind?" she demands with a harsh whisper, taking in his moody gray eyes and the way he's firmly set his jaw. If she weren't so mad she would have been distracted by how good-looking he is. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to talk to you," he tells her stonily, turning off the engine and sending a cold glare her way that she immediately takes offense to.

"Why are you being such an idiot?" she asks heatedly, stepping closer to his window in order to convey her anger without having to raise her voice and wake up the neighborhood.

"_I'm_ being an idiot?" He has the audacity to laugh, however humorlessly. "Why are _you_ mad at _me_?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she shoots back with disbelief. "Have you noticed the way you're acting?"

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble but you're not being too charming right now either!" He's now stepped out of the truck and his whispers sound just as annoyed as hers do.

"Austin!" she calls with frustration, resenting that he's so tall and she has to look up at him, "it was just a kiss! Who cares if it was horrible?"

She must have said something deeply offensive to him, because his mouth drops open just slightly and instead of responding to her, all he does is watch her with the widest eyes she's ever seen on him.

So... it's shocking to him that she might not have enjoyed his kissing as much as all the others girls have? Yes, it felt pretty great when he kissed her. But now that he's been such a brat, she finds that she doesn't enjoy the memory quite as much.

"And it was just because it was our first time, and you didn't even give me a heads-up or anything, so I was unprepared, and maybe I am a little rusty!" She huffs irately, not even registering the cold anymore, and long past noticing that he still looks uncharacteristically shocked by her outburst. "I'm sorry if I was terrible—maybe this time I won't be as awful and you won't avoid me all day tomorrow!"

Angrily, she grabs the collar of his shirt and pulls him down to her, proceeding then to plant a deep, thorough kiss on him—tongue, lips, and body in perfect sync, her mind focused solely on kissing the living daylights out of this moron. She slides a hand from his collar and up to his neck, intending on achieving a better grip, and because she's cold, she figures she might as well press her body a little closer to his. He stumbles back a bit, and as she slides her tongue over his, she knows she's got him pressed against his car.

When he's past his astonishment and seems like he's going to kiss her back, she shoves him away and composes herself, not letting the taste of him on her lips distract her. She ignores his breathless, surprised frame, and raises her head defiantly.

"There. I hope you hated that." Still fueled by rage and annoyance, she turns on her heel and marches back to the house, slamming the door shut behind her.

God! Two months of this!

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I'm debating whether to write the anorexia storyline into this fic. It's a big part of what brought Kaylie and Austin together, but the truth is that I don't think I could do it justice. I don't think I can write in a way that characterizes anorexia as it is-a devastating, deadly disease that has ruined so many lives, and even killed Maeve in the series. That doesn't mean that I won't mention it at all; I'm just figuring out a way to write it in. And to comment on a review I got, I'm honestly really sorry that I've written this story (and all my other ones) in present tense. I haven't been writing for very long, and am trying out new ways to write, which I think accounts for why all my stories sound markedly different from one another. I hope the problem with the tense isn't too distracting, and my next story is going to be in traditional past tense. I appreciate all input; you guys have no idea how much. Thanks for all your support and incredible reviews!


	7. Arson

CHAPTER 7: Arson

Kaylie shuts the door behind her, still fuming and wishing, more than anything, that she could punch something—preferably Austin's face. Under her breath, she curses him, balling her hands into fists and rolling her eyes. And it's while she's rolling her eyes and looking up that she notices Payson a few feet away, staring at her with an alarmed, accusatory frown. The way she's narrowing her eyes and raising an eyebrow tells Kaylie everything, without any words having to be spoken.

Oh my God.

Payson saw them.

The silence that crashes down between them highlights the fact that a movie is playing in the living room on the other side of the hallway wall, and they can clearly hear Lauren tell Emily, "I bet you Payson chose this stupid movie. She has a horrible selection. Maybe you could get your homies from your side of the town to bring us a decent movie."

And then they hear Emily reply with a dispirited sigh, "Lauren... I'm poor, not a gang member."

Kaylie's mind has fizzled into emptiness. Seriously, she can't think of two words to string together that can bridge the hundred miles that seems to separate her from her friend.

Abruptly, Payson walks to the doorway, brushing past Kaylie, opens the door, and walks out, pulling Kaylie by the sleeve to join her at the porch. Once they're standing face to face, Kaylie notices that her brilliant blue eyes seem electrified by an unusual intensity, intimidating Kaylie and making her swallow hard in expectation of being yelled at.

"Kaylie—" She already sounds being annoyed, beyond pissed off.

"Please don't be mad at me," Kaylie blurts out in a panic.

"Okay," Payson agrees, nodding quickly and firmly. "How did that..." She motions vaguely to the sidewalk upon which only a few minutes ago, Kaylie had been mauling Austin, "how did that happen?"

"The kissing." Kaylie doesn't know why she's stating it like that. Of course Payson means the kissing. But by the way she's acting, she didn't see or hear them arguing and fighting before the kissing happened, and in order to make a proper judgment of what she saw, Payson needs to know the circumstances. "Okay, well, I have to tell you the context," Kaylie explains, her face burning, "because the first time that we kissed—"

"The first time? _You've kissed more than once?_"

Kaylie's jaw drops, slack with surprise. Payson is hardly ever seen displaying exaggerated emotions.

At the same time, however, she's angry. "Payson!" she whispers forcefully, grabbing her friend's arm to settle her down, "you should yell that a little louder; I don't think the Schwartz family at the end of the block heard you."

Payson apparently doesn't give a damn that she was loud. "You lied! You _are_ dating him!"

"Keep it down!" she continues to whisper, growing more desperate because if Emily or—GOD FORBID—Lauren hears this, then the world will end. "Yes, we're dating! Now shush!"

It takes her a few seconds of watching Payson's expression shift from angry disbelief to shocked disbelief, to finally process what she's just admitted. She and Austin are dating—that's what she said. The confession emerged from her lips without any reluctance, without any hesitant emotion that she can use when she denies the statement later. How did that slip out?

Well, obviously, denying it to Payson after she had witnessed them kissing wouldn't have done any good... so maybe it _was_ time to come clean (sort of) about her relationship with Austin. Not the part about everything being fabricated, of course, but the part that's going to be all over newspapers in two weeks. With that thought reassuring her, she relaxes and apprehensively waits for Payson to form a reaction that consists of more than her staring at Kaylie as though she's just told her that plants can fly.

"So... you're actually his girlfriend and everything," Payson murmurs carefully.

"Yes." She wonder whether she should elaborate more, but can't think of anything to add.

"And Sasha doesn't know?"

Ha. Sasha. Just the thought of her stern coach finding out about their relationship conjures in her mind images of severe punishment by way of long, tortuous mat-cleaning sessions. "No, he doesn't know. No one knows."

"How long have you guys...?"

"Um..." Crap. What should she say? "A while, I guess."

"How long is 'a while?'"

"A while is..." Is she hyperventilating again? "A while."

Payson watches her with suspicion for the next few seconds, eyes studying Kaylie's fidgeting frame, no doubt wishing her friend could give her straight answers instead of these vague words.

"Payson, please don't tell anyone," Kaylie begs, mind occupied by all sorts of nightmarish scenarios—like Payson calling her parents to tell them all about their daughter's romance before Kaylie's had a chance to figure out how she's going to break the news to them... "No one can know."

Payson tosses a large portion of her blonde hair behind her shoulder, a movement all the girls have learned to interpret as her nonverbal way of expressing impatience.

"Really? You think people aren't going to eventually find out?"

"Eventually, yes," Kaylie concedes. "But not right now. I mean, I'm not even sure we're that much of a couple anyway." That's true; they're not a couple yet, according to the timeline, which very specifically states that they won't achieve that status for a week still.

This seems to appease Payson considerably. Her intelligent gaze sharpens into focus when she looks at Kaylie and says solemnly, "I won't tell anyone. Don't worry."

And at that moment, Kaylie wonders with a relieved smile how she made it all these years counting on Lauren, of all people, to be her best friend and have her back and love her unconditionally, when Payson was right there the whole time.

* * *

><p>The doorbell rings incessantly. At first, Austin is able to ignore it due to sheer depth of his drowsiness. He didn't sleep right away after he got home from his run-in with Kaylie at Payson's house—in fact, it took him about two whole hours to compose himself and breathe, and talk his mind and body into taking this one day at time and not lose his shit over how severely his "exposure" plan backfired.<p>

A minute after he's had to put up with the doorbell by burying his head under a pillow, his phone starts to ring nonstop, too. Different ringtones mean that different people are calling him, and while he's used to being called often (mostly by girls, if he's being honest), this much activity early in the morning is very unusual.

When he thinks the doorbell has been ringing for close to ten minutes, he forces himself to sit up on the bed and rub the sleep from his eyes. Whoever is at the door isn't going away; he's started to accept that, and begins to muster enough courage to rise and make his way to the door.

Groggily, he opens the door and immediately, he has to widen his eyes and smile despite the unwelcome intrusion.

"Good morning, Kelly," he drawls out, yawn interrupted when she slaps a newspaper on his chest.

"What bet did you lose?" she snaps with annoyance as a response, stepping inside his home without waiting for an invitation, as usual.

"What are you talking about?" He turns to her, brain not quite processing her bitchy demeanor.

She plops down on his largest, most comfortable couch, stretching her legs luxuriantly beside her and throwing him an indulgent look that he only associates with the most spoiled of girls.

"Tell me, how do you like the Rock so far?" It seems like an innocent question, but he knows better. Kelly Parker, the smartest, most conniving and beloved bitch in his life, is up to something.

"I like it fine." He sits down slowly in the sofa facing hers, laying the newspaper on the table between them. Kelly is watching him with interest, a small, mischievous grin making him slightly tense. "Why do you ask?"

"Friendly concern."

"Right."

"Aren't you going to read the newspaper I bought you?" she asks, glancing at the paper and motioning vaguely with her chin.

"More news on the Denver arsonist?"

"That too," she consents with a small nod. "That's the reason I'm in this backwards town. But the reason I'm here, in your house, is something else. It's in the gossip section. Well, the sports section, too, but that's a smaller article." Her smile is wider now and her eyes significantly more brilliant. Now he's worried.

Gingerly, he takes the newspaper, mindful of how much pleasure Kelly seems to be deriving from watching him. His fingers reluctantly flip through the pages, smudging ink as they come closer and closer to the intended section. It's when he finally reads the headline and the accompanying picture that his breath catches in his throat and his hands and body freeze in place.

"So, I have to ask again," Kelly says conversationally. "What bet did you lose that you were photographed making out with Kaylie Cruz, the fucking sparkle princess from the Rock?"

* * *

><p>When her phone rings early that morning, Kaylie thinks it's her alarm clock; she probably forgot to adjust the alarm time, as on Saturdays their reporting time at the gym isn't until 9:00am. She sits up to turn the darn thing off when her eyes read on the screen that what she guessed was the alarm clock is in fact her mother calling her.<p>

"Mom?" she answers blearily, looking around to make sure none of the other girls have been awakened.

"Kaylie, you need to come home. Your father is returning early from his trip." Her mother sounds unusually high-strung and the stress in her voice jars Kaylie awake.

"Okay, I'm leaving in a few. Do you know why he's coming home early?" Already she's stumbling towards the restroom to shower and brush her teeth. "I thought his flight back wasn't until Monday."

"I think you know why, Kaylie." She stops at the doorway, facing the mirror and her reflection. What the hell is her mother talking about? "Just be home as soon as you can."

"Um... sure. I'll be right there." She hangs up then, looking at her phone with a frown. The same picture of her and Austin is on its screen, which brings a nauseating sensation to her body. She might just tell MJ today that there's no way she can keep up this lie when Austin is such an idiot all the time. It'd be better to get out of this while no one knows they're "involved," right?

With that plan in mind, she finishes her shower and leaves a note for the girls:

_-Had to go home. See you guys at the gym._

_Kaylie._

She stops at the grocery store to pick up some eggs and juice for her mother, figuring that whatever she's done this time to upset her parents, maybe a treat like this will result in more lenient punishment. Browsing through the store with a basket in hand, she's distracted while she thinks of what could have made her father return from his business trip early. He and his mother haven't been in the best of terms but that wouldn't make him cut short his trip, would it?

By the time she's picking out the eggs, she's convinced that whatever has happened can't be that serious, and all this anticipation she's dredging up is for nothing. When she arrives at the checkout aisle, she grabs a bottle of apple juice from a refrigerator and takes a quick sip, smiling at the cashier and waiting for her items to be scanned. By chance, she begins to read the magazines displayed on the racks at each side of the aisle. Her phone begins to ring with the tone she assigned to MJ, but just as she's setting her juice down to snatch her phone from her purse, a single headline grabs her attention, effectively paralyzing her and stunning her enough to make her feel as though all the air has been sucked from the room.

_"Austin Tucker and national champion Kaylie Cruz: New Couple Alert"_

and alongside it, with a large accompanying picture of her kiss with Austin in front of the hardware store, another magazine inquires:

_"Is this young gymnast Austin Tucker's latest victim?"_

Kaylie chokes on her juice and in between coughs she throws a large bill to the cashier and runs out of the store, her bags swinging wildly from her arms.

* * *

><p>When Kaylie finally pulls up to the gym, an hour late due to all the yelling she had to endure from her parents, she has to muster a herculean amount of strength to step out instead of driving away or spending the entire day sitting inside the car. She leans forward and rests her forehead on the steering wheel, soaking in the reprehending words still overwhelming her thoughts.<p>

_"I'm so disappointed in you."_

_"Dad, this isn't... it's not what you think..."_

_"Let me tell you what I think. I think you didn't learn your lesson with Carter Anderson, and you're letting another boy distract you from the most important goals in your life."_

_"Dad—"_

_"I also think you're back to lying to your parents, when you promised last time that you would stop lying to us."_

_"Dad—"_

_"And something else, too; I think I need to have a talk with your new boyfriend to back off my daughter. And with Sasha so he'll stop allowing these little romances to happen right under his nose, to the detriment of your career."_

A tap on her window startles her, and she turns to look at the last face she ever wanted to see. She's so past pissed off that she steps out without a scowl or glare, or adversary expression. Her eyes lock on his, and she almost softens when she notices that he's also not happy.

"You saw." She nods at his statement. "Did MJ call you?"

"Yes. I didn't answer." Out of her periphery vision, she spots a few groups of paparazzi in a frenzy, snapping pictures of them while attempting to cross a newly-placed cord that's been stretched in the middle of the parking lot, separating the building from the street facing it and effectively keeping outsiders from the Rock.

"She's coming here."

Kaylie nods again, and grimly, she and Austin turn to the gym's entrance. Every single person who's passed by them threw them looks, if they weren't outright staring.

"My life is over," she mutters matter-of-factly.

"We shouldn't have kissed," he laments as they slowly make their way inside.

"No," she agrees moodily, "you really shouldn't have kissed me."

"Well, it was your idea."

Taken aback, Kaylie stops and grabs his sleeve so he halts right beside her. "My idea?"

"Yeah, you wanted to practice," Austin shrugs.

"_You_ brought up practicing. I just said that I wasn't sure we were gonna pull it off convincingly," she tells him, more with disbelief than anger over his accusation.

But now Austin is the one who's turned to her with indignation. "What are you talking about? When I asked you whether what you were implying was that we needed practice, you said yes."

"I didn't mean you could kiss me in the middle of the street."

"Well, princess, if we're talking kisses in the middle of the street, you kissed me in front of your friend's house."

Kaylie's mouth drops open and she's tempted to slap him. "You kissed me in broad daylight, you moron."

"That isn't even—"

"Yes it is—"

"—and at least I wasn't all violent—"

"—and if it hadn't been for you—"

"—because you've got to admit—"

"—can't believe you'd do it where everyone—"

It's right about the second that Kaylie realizes that they've moved closer together in order to better fight through whispers, that a set of hands is inserted between them, effectively pushing them apart and interrupting them.

One look at their agent's stony, annoyed, impatient expression is all Kaylie needs to deduce that once again, as has become their custom, she and Austin are in trouble. "Both of you, in my office."

Kaylie has been hearing harsh, reprehending words since the day started so her agent's cutting tone doesn't faze her as much as it does Austin.

Once they've sat down inside MJ's trailer office, both she and Austin sit absolutely still as their agent eyes them with something akin to disgust.

"Was there any room for confusion in the Manual?" she asks first, prompting both Kaylie and Austin to shake their heads quickly. "And you both understood the importance of sticking to the timeline so specifically explained in the Manual?" Gulping, Kaylie nods, out of the corner of her eyes seeing Austin do the same.

"We thought the paparazzi were only coming today," Austin argues weakly, spurring MJ to step forward and send them an aggravated glare.

"I was sending the paparazzi today. The two pictures that were sold to these publications," she says pointedly and nastily, throwing a stack of newspapers and magazines on their laps and surprising them both, "were not taken by paparazzi. They were taken by a personal camera. A non-professional. A passerby."

Kaylie allows herself to take a deeper breath than the shallow ones she's been drawing out of nervousness, hoping to relax her impossibly tight muscles.

"What all these magazines are writing about is that you, Austin Tucker, are unrepentant regarding your recent scandals and have now managed to reel in another poor, innocent girl." MJ takes a seat across from them, seemingly calmer. "That's why the Manual emphasized the need for build-up, so this development wouldn't seem sudden. What is required of us now is to put in some extra effort into the production of your image following this... hiccup. By that, I mean that since we have now skipped two weeks worth of foundation, we must act correspondingly." Kaylie takes a look at Austin, to check whether she's the only one who still doesn't understand what MJ is telling them, and is relieved that he's squinting with confusion. MJ probably notices this, because she sighs and finally announces, "you two are now officially dating and I'm making the press release today."

Oh. Wow.

"I mentioned that you must act correspondingly. In order for this to work now, you need to convince everyone that this is not the fling so many media outlets have made it out to be. Especially for you, Austin, a break-up any time soon would do nothing but the most serious damage."

Kaylie wonders whether this is a good time to bring up her parent's hellish protest against the relationship.

_"Should I even bother, Kaylie? You always end up doing what you want to do, no matter what we tell you. Your father's opinion should matter to you, and it used to, but now that doesn't seem to be the case."_

She swallows hard and decides that she needs more time to figure this out; for now, she just has to juggle the disapproval from her parents and friends, and decide whether to back out of this scheme or not. The fact remains that she gave Austin and her agent her word, and the benefits to be gained from their plan still remain, regardless of the animosity she'll have to face from the opposition. And besides, maybe the worst is over and things will be easier once they weather this initial storm.

God. She really hopes this isn't just wishful thinking on her part.

"The Manual is now obsolete. By the interesting pictures an amateur was able to capture of you two, I trust you know what to do?" MJ performs a tiny, almost imperceptible eyebrow raise, but Kaylie doesn't focus on that, choosing instead to lower her eyes to the magazines—she and Austin look like they're joined at the lips, but at least the photos were taken at a flattering angle, so it might actually look romantic, with the sunlight framing them and their bodies leaning against each other, instead of cringe-worthy by the discomfort that the camera didn't catch.

_Oh my._ Upon closer inspection, she notices that on one of the pictures, she has her hand cupping his cheek; the touch looks tender, in a way that makes her widen her eyes. Did she really do that? When the hell did that happen? Is this Photoshop?

Austin clears his throat and Kaylie feels his hand envelops hers. She immediately snaps her eyes to him, but before she can react to his action (and she's sure she would have recoiled with surprise), he speaks up. "We know what to do."

"Excellent. Don't disappoint me again."

Kaylie sighs, already too tired to be panicked. Instead, her thoughts turn sarcastic.

Okay, so... it's them two against the world, then? Awesome.

They exit the trailer, and Kaylie is well aware that she looks just as moody and bitchy as she feels, but for the first time in a very long time, she can't bring herself to care. Her day can't get any worse.

Or so she thinks, until she steps inside the gym, being followed by Austin a second later, and halts at the entrance, entranced by an impossible sight: Sasha has practically the entire gym gathered around a group of gymnasts that Kaylie recognizes are from Denver Elite-chief among them, the horseman of the apocalypse herself, Kelly Parker (who's wearing her usual cool, arrogant smirk). Kaylie wonders whether all the upsetting events of the day are making her hallucinate when Sasha speaks up, interrupting all the shushing and whispering that is going on.

"I'm sure you've all heard of the Denver arsonist, if you have been reading the relevant parts of the newspapers, and not just those that cover frivolous gossip," and at this Kaylie feels a few pairs of eyes wander over to where she's still standing with Austin, and she has to fight a blush. "Yesterday morning, the Denver arsonist started a small fire that damaged part of Denver Elite's gym complex. The building has been shut down; it's now a crime scene, and it won't re-open until it has been restored." Something in Kaylie's mind clicks, making sense of Sasha's words and the bits and pieces of information she's been absorbing lately about this, and with growing horror, she holds her breath, waiting for her worst fears to come true. "The Rock has therefore reached out to our sister gym in this difficult time, by offering their gymnasts full access to our facilities." Oh my God. Oh my God. "Gymnasts of the Rock, please welcome your new training partners, the members of the Denver Elite Gymnastics Club."

Shit. She's going to train with Kelly Parker.

So her day did get worse after all.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Just for fun, and because this is fanfiction after all, I decided to play around with the idea of having Kelly Parker and Austin be great friends, even if in the series, Austin comments that he doesn't trust her at all. I hope you're all enjoying this story, because it's super fun to write. And was last night's episode awesome or what? I'm so excited for the new season! Thanks for all the support and please review!


	8. Avoidance

CHAPTER 8: AVOIDANCE

The fact that Kelly's arrival doesn't surprise Austin is enough to send her irritation flaring dangerously, and Kaylie decides she's better off carrying on with her day as normally as she can—even if that means putting up with Kelly Parker's taunts, and avoiding Sasha at all cost.

Without so much as a glance at Austin, Kaylie slips away from the commotion and heads to the locker room, where she figures she'll have some peace before it's time to train and expose herself to the gym's reaction to the scandal that just broke the news today. No one's had the nerve to approach her yet for questioning, though there have been stares and murmurs aplenty. Making her way from the entrance to the locker room was a lot like parting the Red Sea, if the Red Sea were composed of whispering, nudging gymnasts. She hasn't seen Lauren, Payson, or Emily yet, but then again, she hasn't exactly looked for them either.

When she opens her locker and begins to change into her leotard, Kaylie sighs and wonders how horribly Sasha will punish them for dating—cleaning mats? Early reporting time for a week? Or maybe a whole month! He can't make them break up, can he?

"What the hell are you smoking?" Kaylie is so immersed in her own thoughts that she doesn't register Payson and Lauren's approach until the latter speaks up and startles her, so that she jumps back and her shoulder strikes a nearby locker. The clatter rings in the locker room and she raises a hand to massage the stinging shoulder.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me," Lauren hisses, and Kaylie glances at Payson, who has the decency to look uncomfortable with Lauren's aggressive interrogation tactics. "Just yesterday you were swearing by the holy and eternal bonds of friendship that you weren't dating him."

Kaylie's eyes dart to Payson again, who's busy rolling her eyes at Lauren. Some small part of her is glad that her friend has struck by her promise and is pretending she's found out about her romance with Austin along with everyone else.

"Right," Kaylie begins, a thousand possible excuses running in her mind. After a second of consideration, she decides an apology is in order, first and foremost. "I'm really sorry I lied about the Austin thing." Just then, Emily distractedly enters the locker room and halts when she sees them. Her locker is right beside Kaylie's, but it's obvious by her uneasy, shifting posture that she'd like nothing more than to not get involved in whatever is going on. But Kaylie thinks Emily can be counted on to be reasonable, so in the argument that seems inevitable, she'd like to have Emily on her side. "Hey, Em."

Emily joins them reluctantly, and says in her usual careful way, "I hope you're not in trouble, for being with Austin. Is that what you guys are talking about?"

"Not just that," Lauren snaps. "We're talking about how she lied to us, and how stupid she is for being with him."

Kaylie notices that she's grinding her teeth, physically expressing the irritation that's overcoming her as she listens to Lauren's lecture.

"Why are you so mad at me? I already apologized for lying, and it's not like you've never kept secrets from us either," she accuses, unable to help herself. The atmosphere inside the locker room changes, of course. It feels significantly colder suddenly.

"Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Payson is urging them worriedly, but Lauren has taken the bait and steps forward aggressively. "Oh, boy..."

"No, let her talk. Please, almighty National champion; preach on!"

Kaylie flushes at the insult, swallowing hard when she feels that she has no choice but to push back against the girl who's supposed to be her best friend. "Maybe I didn't tell you about Austin so I could, _for once_, have a guy all to myself and not have to share him with you. I'm sure that if I ever told you that I liked this locker here, you'd try to have sex with it."

Oh my God. How the hell did that come out of her?

Her words echo in the locker room and seem to pack enough force that both Payson and Emily step back slightly, registering surprise, leaving Lauren and Kaylie still standing face-to-face, eye-to-eye.

"I give you and Austin two weeks." Kaylie can't help a small frown. Lauren is almost too calm about this, studying her with narrowed eyes and pursed lips, when she had braced herself for a fight, for a vicious argument. "That is, if Sasha lets you two date, which I'm pretty sure he won't. And let's not forget that Austin isn't exactly Mr. Commitment," she adds with a pitying look that seems to slap Kaylie in the face. "All he dates are supermodels, and if he can't even keep his attention on them, I can't imagine how you think you'll keep him interested. You're pretty, but let's face it—you might be out of your league here. And didn't he want to avoid all the media attention? All you're doing is making it worse. As your friend, I also have to tell you that this isn't doing you any favors, either. You had a clean name, and now, in about a week, all you'll be known for is dating a guy who's slept with everything that moves."

Kaylie's eyes dart to Payson and Emily, who are watching Lauren with something that resembles horror and disgust; Kaylie's sure her face is probably blank and expressionless, because it hasn't sunk in yet that these words Lauren's punched into her gut really meant what she thinks they meant.

It's strange, and unsettling even, that she feels so stung, so raw.

She's not really with Austin, she has to remind herself. She's not. This shouldn't affect her so much.

Emily seems incapable of doing anything but opening her mouth and closing it, but Payson steps forward and turns to stand beside her, facing Lauren with a harsh, disapproving glare.

"Really? Are you out of your mind? How can you say these things to her?"

"Oh, you mean the truth?" Lauren crosses her arms petulantly. "Someone needed to."

This is wrong. This is all, all wrong. Kaylie recognizes then that she isn't used to this sort of thing—being cornered, interrogated, treated with suspicion, looked at as though she were stupid. Her mother's warning, her father's reprehension, her agent's lecture, her friends' disapproval—every word is piling inside her mind and there's just not enough air and not enough space for her. The world is wrong, and she feels a need, almost a hunger, to feel right again.

"If she likes him, then that's her decision, Lauren. What kind of friend are you?"

She needs air. Space. She needs to breathe and feel right and normal.

"Um, what kind of friend are you? Did you know about this? Did she tell you?"

"That isn't important—"

"She did! Oh my God! You were in on this little romance!"

"Guys..."

"Shut it, Emily."

Kaylie takes a giant step forward and misses bumping Lauren's shoulder by a fraction of an inch, avoiding their eyes and stepping out of the circle they've formed around her. She hears Payson call her, but doesn't turn back. Instead, she hurriedly exits the locker room and, pausing at the doorway, scans the gym for Sasha and Austin—one, she desperately wants to avoid, and the other, she desperately needs to see.

When she finds neither, her feet begin to move almost immediately, and before her mind registers what her body is doing, she realizes she's standing at the entrance to the Rock's annex, where most of the men's equipment is, and all the older apparatuses for the girls have been dumped.

Her eyes find him, and then it's hard for her not to sway on her feet and feel light-headed with relief. Her chest, her stomach, and her mind, all feel some sort of release, like something terrible was making its way inside her veins and the sight of him was enough to clean her bloodstream.

The world feels right. She feels right. That's what she needed earlier, when the locker room was closing in on her: Austin.

She leans against a part of the wall closest to the door, and watches him effortlessly fly through one of the most complex routines she's ever seen on the pommel horse. The complete control he displays of his limbs and movements astounds her—sometimes, when he's being a stupid boy like he was yesterday, she forgets that he's an Olympic champion. He's the best gymnast in the world, and everything he does is breathtaking, and it's only when she's witnessing his genius and talent that she remembers this.

Austin completes his dismount, wiping his brow free of a few beads of sweat and resting his back against the horse to catch his breath. It's when he looks up after picking up his water bottle that his eyes lock on hers. For a second, she's not far from him—she's beside him, she can smell his woodsy scent, she can taste his kiss again. But it's only a second, because then her father's voice rings in her ears as it has all day: _"I'm so disappointed in you, Kaylie."_ Then they're far away again.

Swallowing hard, she makes her way to him, eying his wide smile with weariness.

"I waited for you outside the locker room, but you were taking so long," he chuckles, and she swallows hard again, "I thought you were sewing together another leotard or something. Pink, as usual."

Wordlessly, she lowers her eyes to her attire—a pink leotard, with black accents. It's her favorite combination of colors, and she only wears this when she's in a good mood. Currently, her mood is anything but good.

The words stumble out of her in a rush, without her thinking. "You know, they don't think we're going to last. Not even a month. Maybe not even a week." She recognizes that she needed to tell this to someone, so the words wouldn't just be floating in her mind and souring her mood even further.

"So? We know how long we're going to last," Austins replies, and his tone is easy and calm, but upon closer inspection, Kaylie can see the undercurrent of worry. There's a plan to follow, but things haven't been going according to that plan. "Opinions don't matter."

"They matter," she argues back, quietly. "That's why we're doing this, isn't it? Because they matter."

"Not them. Not the Rock."

"Not to you. But to me. They matter to me."

Austin falls silent, and although Kaylie can't look at him, she knows he's not looking at her either.

"My parents called me... they think I'm using you." Her eyes snap to his, and she frowns. "They think I'm going to hurt you, by being my usual asshole self." Oh... that undercurrent wasn't just worry. It was apprehension, and fear, and maybe some sadness. "Would you mind it if I took you to meet them?"

Kaylie blinks twice, blankly. She's not sure she heard what she thinks she heard. "What? Meet your parents?"

"Yeah," he says, significantly less confident now that he sees her horrified reaction to his request. "I think that would help."

"They don't _want_ to meet me, do they?" The mere thought of meeting a guy's parents sounds unfathomable to her. "I mean, my parents want to _kill_ you."

"That's because I'm a sorry excuse for a human being." The way he says this, like it's easy, and true, makes her flinch. "You, on the other hand, are a great person. You're, like, perfect. People like you."

"You're not that—you're not a sorry excuse for a human being," she states, surprising herself by sounding steady and clear. "And if people think that, then we'll prove them wrong." She flashes back to that day in the trailer when MJ first presented her idea to them, and how horribly against it she had been, until Austin told her about his parents' low opinion of him. She thinks now, just as she thought then, that worse than having parents thinking you're making a mistake by picking a bad person, is having parents think _you're_ the bad person, _you're_ the mistake someone is making.

"I don't want to think about this anymore," Austin tells her frankly, staring at his powdered hands. And that's fine to her, because she doesn't enjoy this subject either.

"I don't want to go back to the main area," Kaylie retorts, dreading something awful the moment she'll have to face her friends again after running away from them earlier. "I'll just stick to floors now." The men have their own mats for the floor exercises, and no one seems to be using them. In fact—she turns around and surveys the annex—they seem to be the only ones there.

"What are you working on?"

"Triple twist."

"You can land it?" She nods slowly; it's such a difficult skill that she has a hard time admitting that she's added it to her repertoire. Austin smiles again now, but it's bright and relaxed, as though all the gloom weighing him down before has evaporated. "That, my dear Kaylie Cruz, is better than anyone else in the world right now." And now she has no choice but to smile back. Everything that was weighing her down seems to have disappeared as well.

* * *

><p>"I know you're responsible for this." He slams the newspaper against MJ's table, glad that it startles her, glad that it annoys her.<p>

"Sasha. What a pleasure, seeing you here in my office. Unannounced and uninvited, I might add."

Sasha ignores her sarcasm and plows on. "What the hell are you thinking, exposing Kaylie to this kind of media attention?"

"So you're only concerned with Kaylie Cruz, and not Austin Tucker? As I understand, they are _both_ gymnasts of yours."

He has to swallow down his aggravation, with her so blatantly redirecting the conversation to an unrelated topic. "Kaylie is younger and more fragile. I know Austin can handle it. Your orchestration of this phony romance isn't going to benefit either one of them, however."

MJ rolls her eyes but stands up from her desk, looking him firmly in the eye. "This," she says, tapping the newspaper page with a well-manicured finger, "was not my doing. This has been giving me a headache all day, in fact." Sasha's usually well-honed lie detector doesn't identify a single strand of dishonesty in her words. At his silence, the agent seems encouraged to further her point. "I think that if you observe them a tad closer," and at this she leans forward, but Sasha doesn't back away, "you'll find that this sort of thing that you're seeing between them has nothing to do with me or my 'nefarious' plans." There's the deriding tone again, reinforced by a sly eyebrow raise and the shadow of a smirk. "Maybe you should keep a closer eye on your gymnasts, Sasha. You'll be surprised by the sort of thing that goes on when you aren't looking. It sure surprised me."

Sasha does finally back away. Wordlessly, he turns around and exits MJ's trailer, thoughts revolving around a single mission: find Kaylie and Austin. Both seemed to have evaporated from where he had seen them earlier, listening to his announcement regarding the Rock's accommodation of the Denver athletes; in all the agitation that followed as he gave the new gymnasts some last minute instructions, the two were nowhere to be found.

Fortunately, he knows just where they must be, and a minute later, he's walked around the gym's lot and is carefully opening the long-forgotten alternate entrance to the annex, the one unused because every gymnast makes their way to the annex from the locker rooms, and not directly from the parking lot. He halts in his tracks, standing at the door that he's just closed behind him, when he notices Kaylie finishing a routine on the mat with a very nice, very confident triple twist, a skill he's never even seen her attempt, much less performe cleanly. Austin is standing to the side, video camera in hand.

"That was awesome," Austin tells her a second after her landing sends a loud thud through the room. "You need to show Sasha that."

"I'm not sure I can land it in competition," Kaylie argues, still regaining her breath. Sasha is about to walk in, and interrupt them to remind them that chit-chatting is a tremendous waste of time, when her next words give him pause. "Besides, I don't think I can talk to Sasha yet."

Oh. This will be interesting. The coach glances at his watch, and figuring he has a minute or two to spare before he crashes their love rendezvous, he stands just off the entrance, close to the wall, and smiles. Sometimes these young, naïve gymnasts are extremely amusing.

* * *

><p>Austin shuts the camera and watches Kaylie make her way to him after a flawless ending to her floor routine. This, he thinks idly, is when he likes her the most; when she beams with the sort of confidence that comes from being a winner, from being aware of one can do. This is the National Champion, and if he can bet on it, this is the girl who'll win Worlds and the Olympics.<p>

"That was awesome. You need to show Sasha that."

Kaylie is still breathless, and he extends a bottle of water to her, which she gratefully takes. "I'm not sure I can land it in competition." She takes a swing, then returns it to him. "Besides, I don't think I can talk to Sasha yet."

"Because of us?" he asks, unable to keep his eyes from roaming about her face, studying the stray hairs, the light perspiration, the flushed cheeks. He's never been this attracted to anyone, and it's getting really annoying. It just makes no sense, that's all.

"Yeah; he's probably way too mad. We won't be able to squeeze a word in before he tells us to break up." She rolls her neck, closing her eyes and making Austin look away, almost embarrassed by how much he wishes she were a really ugly, really unpleasant girl, instead of... instead of Kaylie Cruz.

He clears his throat and sits down on the mat, motioning for her to do the same. "Your hands hurting?" he asks, and she nods with a sigh, sitting down beside him and extending her arms to him. "Hey, I saw you land that triple on beam."

He sees Kaylie tense, and look at him with what's either suspicion or sadness.

"You made sure no one was looking, but I was looking. Even though you were mad at me," Austin adds with a chuckle. "Let me guess—you haven't told Sasha about that, either."

She seems dismayed, and he wonders whether this was a good subject to broach. "I'm not sure I can even do it that well."

"That's why you need a coach; to give you pointers, and tell you where you need work."

"I just... don't want people to have all these huge expectations... and then if it turns out that I can't land it in competition after all..." Kaylie sighs, hunching forward and raising her hands to her temples. "I don't know how you handle the pressure."

Seeing her slumped figure, catching the exhausted way her words leave her, he feels a wave of empathy overcome him. Their fabricated romance has only added to the stress she's already under as she prepares for Worlds, already anxious about proving herself post-Nationals. He feels a strong, aching duty to help her, to protect her, to make sure she smiles more often and double-guesses herself less.

He clears his throat and risks gently settling a hand on her shoulder, making her look up. "You need distractions from time to time," Austin tells her, adding, before she can rush in with all her objections, "not all distractions are bad. I could be a good distraction."

In response, Kaylie chuckles and gives him a light slap on his cheek. "You'd be a terrible distraction." Austin grabs her hand before she can pull it back and keeps it enveloped inside his, almost too aware of every inch of his skin that is touching hers.

"No, really, I can help you. You can tell me the things you don't want to tell Sasha, because you're so stupid about these things. I can help you with your gymnastics, like with that triple dismount on beam that I've seen you working on."

"_You're_ stupid, not me," Kaylie accuses with a smile, and her voice is so soft that Austin isn't sure he understands her entirely. He wants to lean in, slide closer, but there are all sorts of warnings blaring in his mind; being close to her is dangerous. "How did you know about that triple?"

"You kept making sure no one was looking, but I was looking."

Kaylie raises an eyebrow but nods, and instantly, Austin smiles. "I guess I can give you a trial run. As long as you don't make me regret it."

"The Austin Tucker Guarantee is golden," he jokes, and swallows hard when he watches her breathe out a small chuckle. He feels his brain slowly shutting off again, overwhelmed by a desire to make her keep laughing and smiling, and before he can stop himself, he's already commented, "you know, I don't think we can kiss for a while because you bruised me last night."

The remark works though, because Kaylie does let out a nice, heartwarming laugh. "I'm sorry, I'll be gentler next time."

"Or, you know, you can give me a heads-up."

"Something _you_ didn't give me when you kissed me that first time," she amends with a pointed look. "I guess that was just payback."

"How about we come up with a sign?" he suggests, and his brain must still be shut off because he leans towards her, only registering that he's doing so when she bites the corner of her lower lip, frowning slightly. Suddenly, he's lost his train of thought. He was going to present an idea for a sign, right? But now all of his mental capacity is focused on not closing the temptingly small gap between them. He usually has more self-control than this, but then again, he's used to getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants it—he's certainly not used to being around Kaylie Cruz, and... not being able to have her.

"That's a good idea," she agrees with a nod. "We'll work on it at lunch. For now, though," Kaylie sighs, standing up. "I need your help with the beam."

Austin's eyes follow her make her way to the beam and he shakes his head clear.

Fuck... she's trouble.

"Yeah, of course," he says, forcing some enthusiasm into his tone. "Show me the triple."

His eyes are trained on Kaylie as she goes on to perform a triple twist dismount that's very much close to flawless, except for a minor under-rotation on her take-off, which can be easily fixed. What bothers Austin then is that obviously, Kaylie has been practicing this for a bit—perhaps a few weeks—and yet, could not find it in herself to let her own coach know.

Swallowing back his reservations, Austin approaches Kaylie and gives her an enthused high-five that causes her to giggle shyly.

"That was great! Damn, Kaylie," Austin comments, still taken aback by just how great she is, "you had this little under-rotation when you took off, but we can work on it."

"I've seen Genji Cho do it," Kaylie replies off-handedly, "so I might just need to lean down a bit and I'll have that under-rotation fixed."

The red flag that erupts in his brain is almost enough to make him catch his breath, and a quick succession of images of his anorexia-stricken sister flash before his eyes. Instantly, the good humor that had been warming him becomes a chill that cools his entire body.

Kaylie is not Samantha. Kaylie is not anorexic.

He clears his throat because he can feel his voice isn't going to be as firm as he needs it to be. "You can't lose weight. You need to gain muscle. Losing weight is the last thing you should be thinking about." He tries to restrain the urgency weighing down each word, but Kaylie seems to notice it, frowning slightly and for a split second before smiling.

"Copy that. What else?"

"That's it," Austin says, relaxing his tense frame. "Do it again."

"Yes," Sasha's voice echoes through the annex and manages to startle Kaylie and Austin so severely that they both jump back. "Please, do show me your triple twist dismount."

There have been few times in his life in which Austin hasn't been able to think of something to say. This moment, with the coach examining them with an almost gleeful grin, is one he can add to that short list.

"Sasha," Austin hears Kaylie breathe out with panic. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," Sasha replies. Austin thinks that the way the coach's eyes are gleaming is further indication that he's having fun watching them squirm. "As you both are aware, there is a strictly-enforced rule at the Rock that prohibits romantic relationships between gymnasts. It came to my attention this morning that you both have been in blatant violation of that rule and now stand guilty before me. Do you have anything to say?"

Austin opens his mouth, but shuts it quickly. He thought Sasha would have more to say—and indeed, maybe there's a longer lecture that will follow whatever flimsy excuse they give their coach.

"It was my fault," he nonetheless rushes to defend, stepping in front of Kaylie. "I've liked her for a while, and I didn't think we'd get caught."

Much to his annoyance, Kaylie pushes him aside and faces the coach solemnly. "It wasn't his fault—I mean, I liked him first."

For once, couldn't Kaylie just not disagree with him? He thought of this lie first; it's not fair for her to use the same lie, against him. Can't she see he's trying to save her skin? "No, Sasha, don't listen to her, I thought she was hot from, like, the moment I met her. It was all my fault, don't punish her."

"Well, I thought you were good-looking too, but that's not what matters," Kaylie argues back with a roll of her eyes, turning again to Sasha and adding, "I liked him first. It's my fault. Whatever punishment you have, it should be on me."

"Sasha, she's lying," insists Austin, "I liked her way before she liked me, and I was even the one who kissed her first, so it's—"

"He's just saying that because—"

"—don't believe her—"

"All right, shut it," Sasha commands abruptly, looking like he's fending off a headache after having had to listen to a pair of arguing children. "Because I believe that you two may actually help each other in your gymnastics, I will allow you two to continue your relationship." Austin thinks his heart might have stopped for a moment; he can't have heard that correctly. "However, there will be no public displays of affection in the gym," at this, they both nod fervently, "and the moment I see your relationship negatively affect your gymnastic performance, you must end it, immediately and with no argument. Understand?"

Austin nods speechlessly, and Sasha gives them a humorless smile. "Agreed then. Kaylie, go back to the main area. Start training."

He watches Kaylie hurry off to where the girls usually train, and waits until Sasha is out of sight to bury his face inside his hands. This thing-whatever it is-with Kaylie... it can't get any worse, can it?

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Next chapter, things start getting even more fun! Can't wait till you guys read it :) Also, a thousand thanks for your support and reviews. I noticed that in the last chapter, I got about 20+ story alerts, but not very many reviews, so that was odd (just because this never happened in my other stories). Hope everyone is enjoying this story


	9. Treaty

CHAPTER 9: Treaty

Avoiding her friends turns out not to be as difficult as Kaylie had anticipated, mostly because they stay out of her way. Emily does attempt to talk to her, once, when she's powdering her hands in preparation for her uneven bars practice, but because she's still mulling over Sasha's shocking acceptance of her relationship with Austin—there's gotta be some catch there that she isn't noticing—she can't quite pay attention to her, and ends up sounding more curt and indifferent than she needs to.

When it's finally time for lunch, she bumps into both Payson and Lauren, with Emily only a second behind, on their way out of the gym. She opens her mouth to greet them, but Lauren shoves past her and Kaylie has to rein in the urge to tackle the blond down and invite her to a fight.

"She'll get over it," Payson mumbles as she approaches her. Emily joins them just in time to hear her ask Kaylie, "where are you off to?"

"Lunch with Austin," she replies plainly, wondering why she isn't more embarrassed to admit this. Maybe she's simply past berating herself for this fake relationship; it's time to just go with it and hope for the best.

They part ways after trading smiles, and a melancholic Kaylie watches all three of her friends head in different directions. This thing with Austin is affecting more areas of her life than she thought it would.

She heads to Austin's car after he calls her attention, and is greeted with an enthusiastic, "today we're riding Kaylie!" when she reaches him.

Her eyes practically roll themselves these days whenever he says things like this. "So the name stuck? That's what you're calling your Ferrari?"

Austin widens his eyes, exaggerating shock to the point of looking downright aghast. "Don't insult Kaylie! She's a Lamborghini, thank you very much."

"Tomato, tomah-to," she retorts, crossing her arms and then frowning when she watches him open the driver side door for her. "You can't honestly expect me to drive it."

"Can't drive stick?"

"That, and... that thing is monstrous. I'll end up wrapping it around a tree."

"I'll teach you to drive stick, and the rest is easy to pick up," he assures her easily, grabbing her hand gently and pulling her closer to the door. His touch is oddly distracting, to where Kaylie's thoughts are momentarily derailed from protesting his idea, to wondering why she ever had a problem holding his hand in the first place.

"And if I crash it?"

He laughs, and Kaylie finds herself inching closer to him, for some reason she doesn't have time to sort out before she's laughing when he replies, "then we'll both die painful, fiery deaths, but that's not important."

"You drive it today," she tells him, looking up into his grin, "but you can give me lessons later."

Finally, Austin seems to settle down. "Fine, fine... then hop in and enjoy your ride inside Kaylie. She's beautiful inside and out, you know." He gives her a cheesy wink that makes her laugh again while she's bending down to get inside the ridiculously short car. "Hey, you gonna help me move tomorrow?"

"Um, _no_," she rejects him with a chuckle. "You can ask Max and the boys to do that. But I'll give you a nice potted plant as a housewarming gift, if you want."

"That thing will die in a week," he tells her, starting the engine and driving off. "But I'll take it."

"Do you think anyone will suspect that we're not really together?" she inquires idly, allowing herself to enjoy the deep roar of the motor contrasting with his smooth driving. "I was thinking Sasha is really good at sniffing these things out."

"I'm willing to bet that if anyone starts to suspect it, it'll be Kelly."

Raising an eyebrow, Kaylie turns to him and studies his confident smirk. "You think Kelly Parker, the most self-centered brat in gymnastics, would see this before Sasha?"

"Yeah," he nods quickly. "Wanna bet on it?"

Betting isn't something Kaylie has done very frequently. If anything, she's always avoided putting things on chance because it seemed to her that luck is one of those things she's always had going her way, and she wouldn't want to risk pushing it.

But his aggravatingly self-assured grin is enough to throw all caution to the wind. "Fine. Let's bet. What's at stake?"

"If we find out that Kelly is suspecting things, then you'll be my slave for a day," he puts simply, and she swallows down her panic; these terms might be a tad too severe for her. She really, really, fervently hopes that Kelly Parker doesn't pay attention to them too much.

"Okay. I say Sasha suspects it first, and if I win, then..." Crap. She can't think of anything she'd want from him that rivals the whole slavery prospect from his side. "Um, you can be my slave for a day too."

"Deal." He extends a hand for her and she shakes it, as firmly as she can.

"Hey, MJ said there are paparazzi everywhere in Boulder after the story broke today," she changes the subject, trying not to think about what will happen if she loses this bet (what if he takes his win overboard and she has to, like, do his laundry, or mow his lawn?) "I don't see them anywhere."

"Good. I'm getting tired of being followed around," Austin admits, then pulls over and when Kaylie steps out, she realizes they're in a part of the city she rarely goes to, the end of Boulder opposite to where the gym and her house are. "I heard they have a good sandwich stand here."

She waves down her reluctance and then a few minutes later, they're sitting at a circular, plastic table outside, sunshine warming her up enough that the stress of the day seems to be melting away. "How do you think we can convince the media that we're not 'just a fling' like MJ said?"

"Photo-ops," he replies immediately, chewing and swallowing before adding, "lots and lots of them. That's what the Manual said anyway. We didn't get to our first photo-op before it all went to crap."

She's about to comment on what he said, when her mind wanders to an area she hasn't allowed it to go in a while... those photo-ops they're talking about involve more than the hold-holding she's just gotten around to being comfortable with. "We should plan that signal you talked about before. You know, for the...you know, when we..." It's harder to say this than she thought.

"Oh, right," Austin agrees, and she notices that he doesn't seem very enthusiastic about this either. He puts the sandwich down as though he's lost his appetite, and Kaylie remembers that she hasn't been the most proficient kisser so far with him. He probably still thinks she's terrible—she almost blushes with embarrassment at the thought. "What did you have in mind?"

"Um, maybe I should just... um..." Her eyes sweep his frame as she searches her brain for a good signal. Putting her hair behind her ear sounds reasonable until she remembers that she does that all the time—that will confuse him for sure. Touching his arm is a good option, though. Does she do that very often?

Austin slides closer to her on the plastic seats that revolve the table, and says, "I think I'll just give you a nudge on your arm, like this," and he reaches out and rests a hand on her forearm. The warmth from his hand makes her wonder whether she'll ever be able to focus on things properly when he touches her. "Good? Bad?"

"Good." She clears her throat. He's _so_ close. "I'll come up with mine later." The closeness is making her unable to think clearly. "We can practice and then just get it over with."

"Right. Quick and painless."

"Okay," she says automatically, shifting her body just a bit so that it's more directly facing his. "You should do it," Kaylie blurts out suddenly, nervous beyond belief that she'll blow this and then there'll be no hope of convincing him that her kissing isn't god-awful. "I might miss," she explains flimsily when he doesn't react right away. His eyes are fixed on hers—they look gray again, and mentally she notes that they're only green when they're indoors—and his body is already leaning forward. The proximity keeps increasing and then he's just half of an inch away, and she can feel his lips almost touching hers. She feels his breath, and she feels her hand touching his cheek—that'll be the signal, she decides, because she only does this when they're about to kiss—and she isn't breathing the way she should, or else she wouldn't be this light-headed, and her heartbeats wouldn't be this faint.

Kiss him. Just kiss him.

"Well, well," Kaylie hears beside her, and as though an explosion has gone off on their table, she and Austin jump apart. Kelly Parker is surveying them, tray in hand and eyebrow raised so high on her forehead that she seems even haughtier than usual. "I just wasted five bucks on a sandwich that I won't eat due to nausea."

"Hey, KP," winces Austin, and Kaylie sees him discreetly slide away from her.

"I thought this was the part of Boulder no one from the Rock comes to," tells Kelly conversationally, sitting down across from Kaylie and beside Austin on their table, an action Kaylie can't help but feel annoyed by. "But I guess I'll just have to put up with little Rock pests wherever I go."

"Well, you are in Rock territory," Kaylie reminds her, in significantly lower spirits than before.

"Don't remind me. I hate being in the countryside."

Between rolling her eyes at the things Austin says, and now Kelly Parker, Kaylie has seriously begun to wonder whether she's going to damage her cornea. "Boulder isn't the countryside."

"Um, compared to Denver it is," she retorts, looking at Kaylie as though she's stating the obvious. "You have mills here." Kaylie glances at Austin, who's apparently fascinated by this exchange.

"That's just in the sou—anyway, that doesn't matter," she argues, taking an indifferent sip from her juice. "We're a great city."

"Town."

"City."

"Village."

"_City._"

"_Settlement._"

Austin clears his throat and interrupts all the glaring she's throwing at and receiving from Kelly.

"So are you two always this way?" And with a grin that Kaylie can see right through—he's going to make a joke to annoy them, isn't he?—he adds, "aren't you two friends?"

Kelly immediately scoffs, before Kaylie has a chance to. "Are we friends? Is this the ninth circle of hell?"

"She'll burst into flames if she doesn't insult me at least once a day," Kaylie tells him with an easy smile. Maybe it's because Austin is right there, laughing at this, but having Kelly Parker crash her lunch break doesn't seem as apocalyptic as it would have been had Lauren and Payson accompanied her instead.

"So I heard we have a meet in two weeks, just before Worlds," Kelly comments, as though she hadn't been flinging insults aimed at Kaylie, the Rock, and Boulder just seconds prior, "but I didn't catch the location."

Kaylie glances at her watch and is dismayed to see that they only have about twenty minutes left before it's time to return to the gym. And she hasn't even worked on the kissing thing with Austin!

"Hey, Austin," Kaylie calls before he answers Kelly's question, "do you mind helping me get something in your car really quick?"

If Austin has any puzzlement as to what in the world she's talking about, he's graceful enough not to show it. "Sure. We'll be right back, KP."

* * *

><p>Austin is relieved when Kelly Parker intrudes on his lunch date with Kaylie. It doesn't seem rationally possible, but he's having simultaneously too much and not enough of Kaylie Cruz. He can't even think much about this predicament, because all he ends up doing is despairing over the fact that he's probably crushing on Kaylie—it's the end of the world. Really. He needs some sort of cleanse; he needs to be away from her for a while, because if this gets any worse he might just lose his mind.<p>

"Okay, why did you call me over?" he asks her when they're finally at his car and he's gone as far as opening the trunk, without any clue for why they're there in the first place.

"I don't want to waste this break without getting anything done as far as our pretend thing goes," she explains, all too simply for him. He's practically in shambles mentally, and she doesn't seem to be even mildly affected by it. "Maybe we can give it a few days before we do the kissing, but we should, like, hold hands or something, if we see any paparazzi. Have you seen any of them around?"

"I only saw them in front of the gym," he answers, already feeling some dread crawling up his throat. Please, please, step away from me, he wants to plead with her; please don't touch me or kiss me, just let me go home and sleep this off.

"Good, so we won't be photographed now," Kaylie smiles and he has to smile back, he knows. "Okay, so...let's get it over with."

"Right." Austin raises a hand but closes it in midair, unsure of where it should go. Neck? Back? Shoulder? Meanwhile, Kaylie seems to be going through a similar dilemma as her eyes roam his body quickly. "Um, where do you want me to..." He makes a vague motion with his chin, and is taken aback when Kaylie grabs his hand and lowers it beside them, without letting it go. Her touch is annoyingly distracting; he has to push away all thought of her hand wrapped around his.

"We're too far," she murmurs, then steps forward, and he can't help widening his eyes when he notices that he can now feel the heat from her body on his. There's also her scent, which is usually a subtle flowery, fruity essence that he's never focused on too much—that's not the case right now, when it seems to slap him in the face and make him wish the whole world smelled like her, all the time.

"I think we're good," he breathes out, a pained impatience clawing at him. He knows there's a huge part of him that wants this, really, really badly. But there's another part, almost as powerful, that just wants to get it over with. Kiss her and be done. Kiss her and just get along with things. Because at the end of the day, this is just Kaylie Cruz, and logically speaking, there's nothing special about her.

There _shouldn't be_ anything special about her.

"Okay," she's agreeing, and his eyes, which have been wandering and focusing on everything except her face, instantly snap to her when he feels her free hand touch his cheek. Just like that, all his thoughts evaporate and he's light-headed, and breathless, and his cardiac system can't be functioning properly, because his heartbeats are too strong, at the same time that they seem to have stopped completely... "This will be my sign, I think. And I'll just lean in then?"

"No," he responds faintly, sweeping her expectant eyes, the strands of her bangs that escaped her ponytail and are now falling around her face, and the way nothing's ever seemed so fascinating like her lips do right now. "I'll do it."

He does lean in, and a second later—or maybe it was longer, or shorter, he can't be sure—there's nothing in his mind to ponder on, not even why that hand he didn't know what to do with has moved to her waist and is pressing her closer, not even why he's giving her a real kiss, something weighed down by genuine feeling and emotions like hope and fear, not even why he isn't ending it when he should be ending it, because he's almost out of breath, but who needs air if drowning feels like this...

She pulls back first, and he stares a bit; there's some nervousness there, mostly when she licks her lips and he frowns, remembering that he sucked on the lower part of it, and then he thinks he can taste her on his mouth too. Kaylie's gaze is more languid than usual, right? Like the things around them, like the universe enveloping them, has sort of been suspended, waiting for their kiss to be over so it can pick up where it left off and carry on with its routine.

_Routine_. This is a routine.

"It didn't feel..." She pauses, and the heart inside him that hadn't been doing much beating, begins to hammer away. "Normal. Did it? It still feels a little weird. Not in a bad way, I mean, but just weird."

It's weird, he wants to agree with her; it's so weird that I want to kiss you forever, and never kiss you again.

"Yeah, you're right." His voice sounds like it's coming from somewhere else, not from inside him.

"With time, we'll probably get over it. Hey, I wasn't violent this time," she jokes, and when she pulls on his collar, chuckling, he wishes she'd pull him down, toward her. But at the same time, he feels like he's dissolving, still submerged in the haze of her lips; please, he wants to beg her, don't ever kiss me again.

"Yeah, I'm in one piece." Thank God he can be charming without a lot of effort; he'd be a wreck right now otherwise.

"You think we can pull it off now in front of people? Like maybe just this," she says, and doesn't give him time to brace himself before she leans up again, and presses his lips on his quickly.

It's almost like dying, he ponders then; this is what it must feel like to be poisoned, and having to feel your body fighting it off in vain.

He really can't wait until it's over. Or until it begins, but nothing will ever begin, so the end has to be what he's looking forward to.

"Yeah, that's good. We can definitely do that."

"Great. All right." With finality, she steps away from him, straightening her hair while he watches a little hopelessly. "You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but Kelly might not be that bad. Well, I mean, I still think she's soulless and horrible and has the personality of a knife, but I think I can get to know her better. Maybe I've been wrong, you know?" He nods speechlessly. "Let's go, boyfriend." Even when she takes his hand and leads him back to the sandwich shop, he can't quite force all his parts together again, the way they so perfectly fit together before.

"Took you two long enough," Kelly huffs, rolling her eyes and giving them their trays. "So tell me," she says with a smile when they sit down, "where is this damn meet gonna take place?"

Kaylie grins happily, looking at Austin as though to give him cue, and he tightens his grip on his fork, halting when he feels the metal give and bend.

"We're going to a really exciting place," he forces out, stamping a smile on his face, too, because there's nothing else to do.

"Botswana?" Kelly guesses excitedly, and he catches Kaylie's almost imperceptible frown. He nearly smiles for real then. He can keep this together; she's not right there in front of him anymore, she's not kissing him, she's not drugging him into submission.

"Not quite..." he says to Kelly. "A place you've always dreamed of."

"El Salvador?"

Kaylie's watching Kelly as though she's witnessing a live mutation. He can smile at this. He can be normal.

"Um—" he begins to deny good-humorously, but Kelly's excitement interrupts him.

"Kazakhstan?"

"What kind of dreams have you been having?" Kaylie cuts in incredulously.

"Whatever, Sparkles," Kelly retorts easily, but Austin can tell she's a little insulted. "Just tell me where it's gonna be already."

"_Denmark_," Kaylie replies, still smiling with disbelief. "Not quite like the exciting places you were throwing out there, with wars and the third world and all, but still pretty great, right?"

"Snooze," Kelly huffs with a shrug. "Wake me up when we go to Sri Lanka."

* * *

><p>They leave before Kelly does. Training for the rest of the day is just as strenuous as it's been lately, with Sasha insisting on expanding his repertoire on the pommel horse, an apparatus that's never been his forte. With about half an hour to go before the end of the day, he stretches his arms quickly and makes his way to the even bars, his comfort zone and the only place he can clear his mind and purge Kaylie Cruz from his system.<p>

His landing at the conclusion of his routine sends a smacking sound echoing through the annex, and when he turns to make his way out, he's surprised to see Kelly Parker, all crossed arms and knowing smirk.

"So... you and Kaylie Cruz, huh?" He knows where this is going, knows the kind of rhetoric she uses to shape people's thoughts, and he knows the kind of headache he'll be getting from listening to her. "I suppose your perfect match would be a raving lunatic."

"I know what you're doing, and let me tell you that you're wasting your time."

Kelly is genuinely irritated by his response, and steps in front of him when he attempts to leave. "You can't date her, Austin. You don't know her, and what she's really like."

"I know her more than you do, apparently."

"She's spoiled, conceited, egotistical, manipulative—"

"Save your breath, Kelly."

She doesn't take his interruption well; the way her eyes narrow for a quick moment before she sighs is a clear sign. "I'm your friend, Austin. Why can't you listen to me, just this once?"

"Because you're wrong about who Kaylie is, you know, inside."

Kelly snorts impatiently, skeptically. "Fine. Who is Kaylie then? Who is she _inside_?"

Austin doesn't have the faintest idea on how he should answer that question. Kaylie Cruz is a lot of things, and some of them are pretty bad—Kelly's right about her being spoiled—but they're overwhelmingly outweighed by the good. He has to take a breath, and pause, and gather his scattered thoughts in order to sound like he's making sense.

Kaylie Cruz is...

"She's honest, and deep, and she trusts her heart." He frowns, thinking of how she truly seems to believe that he's not the asshole everyone has made him out to be. "She thinks better of people than they deserve. She's nicer to the world than it is to her, and she's still hopeful and she isn't bitter. She's just a good person, worth knowing and worth being close to. I'm not even sure I deserve her, to be honest..." Then he focuses his gaze back on an incredulous Kelly. "She was telling me that she wants to get to know you better. So you should show her the side of you that is good, that doesn't make people automatically hate you." This clearly confuses her, but Austin would like to think that it softens her, too. "I'm tired. I have an early day tomorrow so I'm gonna go home and crash. Want a lift to your hotel?"

Kelly purses her lips, studying him intently before shaking her head slowly. "No... that's fine. Thanks."

"All right. See you when I see you," he bids her, and walks to the parking lot without bothering to get his gym bag. He can shower at home and he'd also rather not lose his best training gear amid the clutter that'll be his boxes and furniture tomorrow. On his way to his car, he sees Kaylie and Payson talking, heads close and eyes conspiratorially dashing from side to side, as though monitoring their surroundings. He wonders what they're so intensely discussing, and whether he's a topic. There are maybe two or three paparazzi photographers behind the cord that's still separating the lot from the street.

They need a photo-op, right?

Without thinking, he walks to them and places an arm around Kaylie's shoulder. She's surprised, but goes along with it rather well. All he has to concentrate on is not letting the feel of her body against his affect how he acts.

"What are we talking about, ladies?"

"Summer asked Kaylie to come to the gym tomorrow so they can have a talk," Payson explains grimly, and they both watch Kaylie dispiritedly bury her face on Austin's chest.

"Just kill me now," Kaylie says through a muffled voice. "Hit me with anything that kills."

"Summer is the director, right?" Austin asks, struggling a bit to redirect his thoughts from Kaylie's intimate motion back to the conversation at hand.

"Yes, and her specialty is talking to gymnasts about dating and sex, and whatnot," Payson continues pityingly, and at this, Kaylie raises her head.

"It's just going to be a huge lecture," she informs them with a sigh. "But I'll make it through."

"Smile and nod, Kaylie," he advises her with a smile, not prepared for when she smiles back comfortably. His heart takes a dive down to his liver.

"Sage words," Payson agrees with a small laugh, then pulls Kaylie away from his arm and hugs her. "Don't worry about Lauren. Yes, she's being kind of bitchy, but I think it's because she's jealous that I knew about it before she did."

"What's her excuse for the other times when she's bitchy?" Austin hears Kaylie murmur, then recognizing that this is the sort of girly drama that he cannot possibly relate to, he turns to the side and sees Kelly shutting her trunk and then meeting his eyes with an undecipherable look. "I'll text you when I'm done with Summer."

"Okay."

At this, Austin turns back to them and hears the distinct sound of Kelly's car revving to life. Payson's mother pulls up just then and with a small wave, he and Kaylie see her off.

"There are paparazzi around," he comments, because he's about to explain the reason for that whole putting-his-arm-around-her move, but Kaylie seems to interpret it differently.

"Oh, you want to... um," she rambles a bit, "sure, I mean, we can do it fast, it'd be a good occasion..." At this she trails off and looks to the side. "You know, this is still kind of embarrassing."

"I wasn't going to suggest that we do it," he tells her quickly. "We could, if you wanted to. But you know..." What the fuck is he talking about? He doesn't want to kiss her! He wants to run away! Enough with this Kaylie Cruz business; she's driving him fucking insane! "I mean, it's not like I actually want—"

His words are abruptly cut off when Kaylie gives him a quick kiss on the cheek, immediately sending a wave of euphoria that immobilizes him at the same time that it makes him really, really hate her.

"I'll let you know how the thing with Summer goes," she tells him, giving him a half-smile that only displays one of her dimples. "Oh, and text me when you're done moving so I can go _not_ help you unpack." Her laugh makes him wish he could drive away, because nowadays it's all he wants to listen to. Then she's driven off and he's in the parking lot, practically by himself, and he realizes, much to his dismay and to his general feeling of doom, that if he's being honest with himself, and if he strips himself of all the fear and anxiety and worry that distract him from the root of his feelings, the truth is that he already misses her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** It's getting interesting! Have I mentioned how fun it is to write this fic? I'm almost done with the next chapter and so far it looks like it'll be pretty funny. I love reading your reviews and appreciate it so much that you guys take the time to encourage me, to make suggestions, and to let me know your opinion on where the story is going. Thanks again and happy Easter!


	10. Moving

CHAPTER 10: Moving

Kaylie sits up on her bed, a deep frown furrowing her brow. It's already morning, which is good, but she knows why she woke up earlier than usual on Sunday (the only off day she has from the gym and therefore the only day she can sleep in). She just had an extraordinarily inappropriate dream featuring none other than Austin. The parts she remembers involve her basically pouncing on him and making out with him like her life depended on it, and all of it seems to have taken place inside "Kaylie," his Lamborghini.

What. The. Fuck.

This pretending thing—pretending to hold hands, pretending to hug, pretending to kiss—is getting spectacularly out of hand.

At least the dream wasn't too vivid, so she can actually sigh and roll her eyes and pretend—she's gotten so good at that—that the dream didn't really happen.

A quick glance at her alarm clock reveals that it's just after 9am. Snuggling deeper into her warm, soft covers, Kaylie runs a mental recap of the week, which seems so much longer now that she realizes just how much has happened: she has a boyfriend now, the relationship is fake, her parents hate him, her friends disapprove, Sasha allowed them to date for reasons she has to suspect aren't what they seem, and oh—how could she forget—Denver Elite (aka Kelly Parker's headquarters) is training at the Rock now. Yes, this week felt like a month.

Yesterday, just before bed, her father had called her via Skype from his business conference; his ire was such that she felt as though he were right there in their living room, reaching through the screen to choke her into breaking up with Austin. Nothing she had said to him—"I'm sorry, it's not going to affect my gymnastics, he's a great guy"—seemed like enough to appease him, and he bid her good night by demanding that at the very least, she needs to see him less. For some reason, that didn't settle very well with her.

After a few minutes of mentally lamenting the horror of her predicament, Kaylie remembers that in only about two hours she has a meeting with Summer, the Rock's director. The topic of discussion wasn't officially announced, but she can guess with almost certainty that it'll be Austin. Knowing that, she's already sort of prepared a speech to assure the director that she won't let her relationship with him steal her focus from training, and that everything will be fine, etc...

After all the yelling she's had to endure from her parents, nothing Summer says can faze her.

She takes a deep, relaxing breath and then frowns. If she weren't in such a good mood, she'd be more annoyed at all the noise—obnoxiously loud sounds of lawn mowers, truck engines, and even some yelling—coming from the house next door. She shrugs the irritation off, and a quick five minutes later, she's ready for her morning jog and is already compiling an upbeat music playlist on the iPod strapped to her arm.

At the sound of her phone ringing at the bedstand, Kaylie sets down her earphones and picks it up, narrowing her eyes when she reads on the screen that Austin is the caller.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, Kaylie. Hope I didn't wake you up._" She notices right away that his tone is strained, and he sounds almost pained to be talking to her.

"You didn't. What's up?"

"_Have you gone to see Summer yet?_"

"Not yet... still getting ready."

"_Listen... if she makes any comments about wanting to talk to my parents, can you find a way to like, talk her out of it?_"

Huh? What the hell is he talking about? "I wouldn't be able to talk her out of doing anything. Besides, I'm sure that if anyone's parents are freaking out over this, mine are it. I got yelled at yesterday like there was no tomorrow."

He scoffs, and Kaylie almost rolls her eyes for how easily he's dismissing her side of things. "_Did you not hear me yesterday? My parents think I'm using you. Your parents probably just think you're rebelling by dating the bad boy. My stuff is serious." _Oh my God. And she thought he couldn't be any more loathsome.

"Excuse me? You don't know my parents. You don't know me either, apparently. My parents thinking that I'm making a dumb mistake is huge to me."

"_Why are you being so self-centered? Do you have any idea what my parents have been telling me? It's like it doesn't matter that I'm an Olympic champion; I'm a disgrace to the family because—_"

"Because you're a manwhore," she interrupts him, voicing thoughts that have been lurking in her mind for a while, tucked away by the part of her that was overwhelmed by compassion and sympathy towards this moron. "Yes, you're a dog, and the world knows you're a dog, so you brought this on yourself."

"_Are you fucking serious right now?_"

She can't remember ever hearing him swear, or at least not like he means it. So that last question actually alarms her a bit, but she doesn't back down. "Does it sound like I'm joking?"

When he's silent, and she realizes that she's breathing heavily with irritation and anger, something becomes clear to her, and it's surprising enough that she isn't sure what to think of it: she and Austin are fighting.

"_You know what? I think we need some space._"

The words feel like tiny punches against her gut, but she's too angered to let her thoughts linger on that for more than a second. "Good! I was thinking that myself."

"_Have an awesome day. By the way, you're a prude._"

"And an awesome day to you, too, pig!"

She hangs up and stares at the screen again, mind still too flustered with a tornado of emotions and thoughts. What an asshole! The _nerve_!

(Did she really just fight with Austin? Did they break up?)

No, Kaylie, she almost slaps herself as she remembers, you and him are not dating. You didn't _break up_. Scenes from the dream keep popping up in her mind and she's almost loathing Austin, for making his way into her dreams like that.

God. It feels like a real fight. All the lingering weight of despair and confusion, as well as anxiety and regret, is still there, and it feels like something is squeezing her chest and giving her a small heart attack.

"Kaylie! Come get breakfast!" Kaylie hears her mother call downstairs. Her mother, at least, hasn't been too horrible about the Austin thing, as opposed to her father, who gave her the sternest, coldest talking-to of Kaylie's life the morning the scandal broke out. Pushing all thought of her recent altercation with Austin, she enters the kitchen, where she's greeted by the enticing smell of freshly-baked cookies.

"Did I... miss something?" Kaylie asks, staring at a bowl containing approximately two dozen or so bite-sized chocolate chip cookies. She almost wants to reach in and take one, but holds herself back because skipping these treats might help her lean down, and get that under-rotation on her dismount taken care of. Instead, she takes a sip from the glass of orange juice she has every morning, watching her mother approach her with a plate of diced fruit.

"The cookies are for our new neighbors," her mother informs her brightly. "They're moving in next door."

So that explains all the noise from a house that was empty up until yesterday.

"Right," Kaylie agrees, already losing interest and mentally planning what route she'll take for her running, so she has time to conclude it and still shower and get ready to see Summer at the gym. Austin's words are still ringing in her head and she has to make a huge effort not to let them consume her thoughts.

Think about the running. An easy five miles should do it... round off at the gym and pace herself on the way back...

Should she apologize?

NO! Of course she shouldn't; she was right, and he was too stupid to see it.

"Here," her mother interrupts her by placing the bowl of cookies on her hands. "Go next door and give them this. And don't forget to invite them to dinner any time they'd like—we're good neighbors, right?"

"Awesome," Kaylie mumbles under her breath, setting down her iPod on the counter and making her way to the door, bowl in hand. She really hopes these new neighbors aren't the chatty kind because all this is doing is delaying the program she's set out for her morning and the last thing she needs is to throw another half hour away being asked about her life and the city.

It's Austin fault. She's going to be a bitch to her new neighbors and it's all that idiot's fault, for being so stupid and insufferable and oh my God why is she caring so much!

Pausing by the strip of sidewalk that separates her lawn from her new neighbor's, she can't help frowning at the wave of nostalgia slowly seeping in her mind. This house had been vacant for years; when she was twelve, she remembers wandering over to the abandoned backyard with Leo, not aware that misdemeanor trespassing is a real crime. There's a particularly huge tree that covers half the backyard in shade on hot summer days, and she'd occasionally wish their backyard had a tree like that.

When she's a few feet away from the porch, she dodges two movers carrying a large, expensive-looking leather couch and two others lugging the biggest TV she's ever seen. Her eyes dart over to the moving truck and assess the furniture inside; everything is very glossy and fancy, and none of it looks particularly kid-friendly. This family must be childless.

"Are you lost?" Kaylie turns and of course—by the smirking tone that instantly sets her temper flaring, she can tell it's Austin before she even lays eyes on him.

"I should ask you the same," she shoots back, a bit surprised at seeing him in a cotton t-shirt and baggy sweatpants, a far cry from the male gymnastics attire. She maintains a stony, steely gaze, to match his. "What are you doing in my neighborhood?"

"What are you doing in mine? And why do you have cookies?"

"They're for—" she stops abruptly as all the pieces come together in her mind.

"_As a result of my reduced income, I have decided to move out of that lake house and come live with you peasants in Boulder's suburbia."_

"_I told you I'm buying a house closer to the gym, right?"_

"_Hey, you gonna help me move tomorrow?"_

No.

NO.

Austin.

Next door.

Neighbor.

Shit. Fuck. Oh my God.

The ghastly realization summons overwhelming horror and dread. Her hand reaches inside the tray and she angrily throws a cookie at him, aiming at his face. He dodges it just in time, and stares at her with shock.

"What the hell, Cruz!"

Because they are in plain view of everyone in the street, she grabs him by the sleeve with her free hand, shoos away all the movers from his living room, and swings the door shut.

"Why are you moving here?" she exclaims, and because there really is no other way to express how pissed off she is about this, she throws another cookie in his direction and this one manages to smack his chest. He rushes towards her and pushes her inside what Kaylie guesses is one of the home's many guest rooms.

"Kaylie! WHAT THE FUCK!"

"You asshole!" She throws another cookie. "You moved to a house right next to me!" And while she's throwing another cookie at his chest, his face finally registers the same sort of panicked surprise that she's sure she had when she pieced it all together. "How in the world are we supposed to be neighbors?" Yet another cookie is hurled his way but he doesn't react. He's not even looking at her by now; he's just as alarmed as she is, except that he's digesting all the horrific details of this situation in silence, while she finds it impossible to do anything but throw cookies at him and berate him on his stupidity. "Why couldn't you tell me you were buying your house here? I'd have told you to go somewhere else! Now we're neighbors! We live right next to each other! Your window faces my window! Your backyard is right beside my backyard!" Three additional cookies are missing from the tray by the time she's done with that rant, and just as she's winding herself up for another round of scolding, Austin grabs the hand that Kaylie has in the tray, ready to arm itself with another cookie, and holds it there.

His voice is low, and maybe even a little dangerous. Suddenly, Kaylie feels a creeping sensation of danger. Austin is so unpredictable. "Why didn't you tell me where you lived when I asked you?" Then, in a move that shocks Kaylie, he grabs a cookie too, and throws it at her shoulder. She doesn't even have time to protest, before he grabs another one, and adds, "I asked you, and if you hadn't been so pissy about just giving me your goddamn address, I wouldn't have bought a house right next to yours!" This cookie hits her arm, prompting Kaylie to snatch a cookie and hurl it at his abdomen area. In response, he seizes the opportunity to wrestle the entire tray from her hand, and he does so—easily—so that in a blink of an eye, Kaylie has no tray and consequently, no ammunition in this battle, and he's throwing the last of the cookies all over her body while she scrambles to find a good place behind which she can barricade herself.

While en route to her chosen hiding place (the bed), at least three cookies hit her in places she can feel—her butt, her legs, and on her side and that one, she swears, will leave a oddly-shaped bruise—before he apparently runs out of bite-sized chocolate chip bullets. She pokes her head from behind the bed and immediately, she feels a cookie zoom by her head. In record speed, she ducks behind the bed again.

"Mr. Tucker?"

Her head whips to the door and she catches sight of a sheepish-looking man who she recognizes is one of Austin's movers.

"I'm sorry to interrupt. The second truck is ready."

The mover shifts his eyes from Austin, hugging the bowl close to his body, to Kaylie, whose head is just barely poking out from behind the bed. There are cookies, pieces of cookies, and chocolate chips everywhere, so that the room looks ravaged by a bomb made of cookie dough. Kaylie can't imagine what the man must be thinking.

"Um. I'll be right there," Austin says monotonely, and Kaylie walks out from behind the bed and forces herself to stand next to her fake boyfriend. "We were just…"

"This is our tradition. We were christening the room," Kaylie explains lamely, feeling Austin give her a look of disbelief.

"Of course," the man assures, seemingly eager to put the whole scene behind him. "I'll be right outside."

Austin makes a hum of assent and they watch the man close the door behind him. Immediately, Kaylie reaches inside the bowl and snatches the last two cookies. Then she steps back with a cool glare.

"There's a cookie between your boobs, just so you know," Austin points out after a moment of chilly silence.

"Stop staring at my chest," she drawls out dangerously. Her tone is meant to intimidate him, but all it seems to do is amuse him.

"What if I don't?"

"Then I'll throw these cookies at your crotch," she threatens smoothly, and then, to her surprise, Austin begins to laugh.

He sets the bowl down and steps closer to her, and isn't fazed when she steps back, maintaining their distance. "You know, I thought it'd be easy to fight with you, but it's not." Because Kaylie can't quite place all the layers of meaning behind his statement together, she doesn't respond. "I thought I wanted some space, but I think I got used to being with you all the damn time, and now the possibility of not being your friend seems really shitty."

Did he just call them friends? They're friends?

They are friends. The fact seems obvious to her now—she's always talking to him, she enjoys his company, she believes in his goodness—but they've never actually agreed on a friendship, or any sort of relationship save for the manufactured one, so she feels her heart and her mind perform a sort of shift inside her.

"You are my friend," she states evenly, watching him intently, to see whether he'll start laughing again and tell her it was a joke; that of course they can't possibly be friends because he's just too cool for that. "I don't like fighting with you either."

"So… truce?" He extends his hand, and Kaylie stares at it for a few seconds, pondering on why this feels like a grand step forward when really, it's not.

But she does shake his hand, and she meets his eyes sincerely, fighting the swell of happiness within her that the horrible atmosphere between them has passed and they're getting along again. "Truce."

He smiles, and she sees a strangely bright sort of animation in his eyes. "You have great aim for a girl."

She chuckles at the insult, and decides to take it like a good sport. "Your screams are really high-pitched for a boy." Then, in a rush of remembrance, her mother's instructions become fresh in her mind. "Hey I'm supposed to invite you to dinner sometime this week, as a welcome-to-the-neighborhood gesture from my parents."

"They don't know it's me, though; am I still supposed to accept?"

"They're going to find out that our new neighbor is you," she replies with a shrug that conveys more confidence than she really has. "We should just get it over with."

"All right then." He gives her a tired nod. "It'll be my pleasure to have dinner with the Cruz family, sometime this week."

After she steps out from Austin's new home, she ditches her iPod behind at her house and takes off running to the gym. Part of her jogging trail already involved a lap around the block on which the Rock is located, so Kaylie figures she might as well just make good time that morning, sans music. Her pace isn't brisk, because it doesn't need to be, but also because she wants to have time to think.

And think she does.

She thinks about how her parents will react to their new neighbor. She thinks about what the newspapers and gossip magazines will write about it, too. She thinks about how long Summer's lecture will be that morning, and whether she'll say the word "condom" during any part of it. She thinks about how the paparazzi seem to be everywhere, like invisible chaperones. And she also thinks about Austin.

It's odd, to think about him. It has to do with how close he's gotten to her, in a matter of days. Last week he meant nothing to her, but today... today he means something. Fighting him made her feel something, and that something was awful. Having that silly cookie battle as a preamble for them making up and being back to friendly territory made her feel something too, and that something was wonderful.

When she reaches the gym, she's surprised to spot Summer awaiting her at the entrance, all bright smiles and shimmering blond hair that Kaylie's just begun to dread seeing.

"Morning jog?" the director asks when she's slowed down nearby.

"Yeah," Kaylie replies, bending to catch her breath. She raced the last mile, quickly enough to get her heart hammering inside her chest. "I thought I'd have time to run and then go back home and shower before coming here, but..." But Austin happened. "But I ran a little late."

"No problem. Come inside." With that reassurance, Summer leads Kaylie into her office, and on their way there, Kaylie can't help looking at the empty gym and imagining her latest routine in each apparatus.

"Kaylie, I have to be very honest with you," Summer begins, and in expectation of the worst, Kaylie takes a deeper breath than necessary, and holds it. "Your relationship with Austin took me, and I'm sure many other people, by surprise. As someone looking at your future in gymnastics, I cannot encourage you to continue, but as someone who was once seventeen-years-old, I understand what you're going through. My job isn't to talk you out of pursuing this relationship; I have to make the proper warnings and make sure you know what's at risk." She makes Kaylie sit down and then pulls up a chair beside her. It makes Kaylie blink back some surprise because she expected to be stared down from behind the table. "Tell me what you think the risks of this relationship are."

"I... I already had to talk to my parents about it," Kaylie says instead, hoping this doesn't ring like the 'back off' she almost hears in her own words. "I mean, not that I don't want to talk about it with you; I just mean that I... I've already been grilled about it, and..." This isn't a good time to look flustered. "I'm still with him, right? And his parents don't approve either, but it has to do with me being too good for him, even though I'm honestly not." She abruptly realizes that she's gone off on a tangent, addressing her inner turmoil since this morning, rather than what she had meant to say, or what Summer had inquired. Why did she have to talk to her now, when she's barely gathered her own thoughts? "What did you ask again?"

It's not easy to hate Summer, to resent her meddling, to dislike her conservative lectures, when she just looks so nice and understanding. Like there's really nothing she could say to scare her away. "I want to know what's going on in your mind."

"Nothing," Kaylie breathes out nervously. Suddenly, she can't get a hold of her nerves. Everyone except MJ disapproves of this relationship—and the agent is only interested in their careers. The people who worry about them are all telling them to split. "I mean, not _nothing_ like I haven't thought about it. I've thought about us. About the Olympics. And I am afraid, sort of..." She had never really been afraid of things before Carter made her think she wasn't worth keeping, and before her parents started a slow march toward divorcing. Now fear rushes along her bloodstream with every beat of her heart. "I'm afraid of losing. Afraid that I've trained my whole life, and given up things, and I'll end up never getting anything back. Afraid of making choices that will mess things up for me, of course. I just thought I could do everything. I might not be able to, and I don't know what I'll do if I lose, or even if I win; what am I going to do or be afterwards." Her words are murmurs, ringing weakly thought the silence in a gym that only last week, seemed so small. A week. That's how long she's known Austin, but she's only _really_ known him for two or three days. And he fears the same things; she feels the common strand linking her to all gymnasts, but him especially because he's not her competition. "He helps me. It's like my brain works better when he's around. I overthink things less when he's there, for some reason, and then gymnastics seems like something I can handle. At first I thought he was being stupid but all he's ever done is try to help me. I think I'll end up liking him too much, and then I won't want to give him up when it's time."

"When it's time?" Summer frowns, and the realization of what she's said startles her.

She fumbles to fix her slip. "I mean, when it's time for the Olympics."

"Kaylie," the director smiles sympathetically. "I understand what you're going through. I'm not here to tell you what decisions you have to make; I'm here to help you. Any relationship is tough work, and it's exponentially tougher for young people. It's not that no one thinks you two genuinely like each other; it's just that the odds are stacked against you, being so young, and already professional athletes." She's known this, but it surprises her that she's never actually heard it being put into words like this. "I don't want to dismiss your feelings, Kaylie. It's clear that you really like him."

No, wait... Kaylie opens her mouth to protest—you don't know what you're talking about; I don't like him, I CAN'T like him, you have no idea what this is like—but shuts it immediately because there's no point saying anything when she's not even sure what she thinks or feels anymore.

"What I want you to do is be responsible." Oh, gee. Here comes the sex talk. "Austin is older than you, and significantly more experienced. You cannot, _ever_, feel pressured to do anything you don't want to do or don't feel like you're ready for."

Summer watches her with the same infuriatingly nice smile and Kaylie sighs before responding, "yes, I agree. I'll definitely keep that in mind."

"Whenever you'd like to talk," Summer offers when Kaylie begins to motion like she's going to stand up to leave, "you can come to me at any time. Okay? Any time."

"Okay."

She almost doesn't have the energy to run home. Five miles, which isn't much, seems like a road to eternity right now, and she wishes she had her car with her. Or Austin's car, because it's so much fancier and faster. But she supposes she'll be having lots of chances to ride his car since they're neighbors and can even carpool if that's ever a necessity.

His car. The place they were making out on in her dream. UGH.

She sinks down onto the grass at a park three miles from her house, and buries her face inside her hands, taking care to focus on her breathing and clear her head.

Austin. Austin. Austin.

There are increasingly more reasons for them to stop this whole fake dating nonsense, and yet she just can't look at that as an option. Why? Why does she want to keep being with him when all this is doing is messing her up? These troubles haven't affected her gymnastics yet, and maybe it's only because Austin has been helping her get better, otherwise, she'd probably be faceplanting at every skill.

"Kaylie!" It's an unfamiliar voice. She sits up, looking around her and catching sight of a man with a microphone, a companion carrying a camera, and an overeager smile. "Kaylie Cruz! What does it feel like to be dating gymnastics' biggest bad boy, Austin Carter?"

God. Can't they just leave her alone?

"Are you jogging? Were you resting? Why did you look upset? Are you and Austin okay? Is it true that you're moving in together?"

She takes off running, forgetting all about the inertia that had made her take that breather in the park. Just as she reaches her block a few miles later, she stops at the intersection and grips the street sign pole for balance while she stretches out her leg behind her.

Kaylie is dreading going back home. By the way that annoying paparazzi was questioning her, at least some outlets are aware that Austin's moved next to her. And she doesn't have her phone with her, or she's sure she'd be answering calls from her mother about the same thing. How long will it take for her mother to tell her father, and a whole new brand of hell to be let loose on her?

"Excuse me, young lady," she hears behind her, and for a quick moment she wonders whether the only people she'll talk to in Boulder nowadays will be paparazzi. The voice is kinder and seems relatively non-intrusive, however, so Kaylie isn't surprised when she turns and sees an older woman at the front passenger seat of a station wagon that's just pulled up to her. "Can you help me? I'm looking for an address."

Her gray eyes remind her of Austin's, but nothing else about her face resembles him so the comparison slips from her mind quickly enough. And anyway, maybe she's started to see his face everywhere—it's that damn dream messing with her head.

"Of course," she replies, forcing a friendly smile. "What house are you looking for?"

"I have it here, written down, just to make sure..." The older lady begins to search a large purse on her lap and the passenger window rolls down so Kaylie can now see a young girl, about her age, with long black hair and the same gray eyes that the lady has. "We don't live nearby, and have been lost in this block for quite some time." The girl is very frankly staring at Kaylie and it makes her wonder whether she's read the gossip magazines and is judging her right now, like everyone else has been quick to do.

"Mom..." the young girl calls out faintly. "Mom!" she calls louder, and this makes the older lady—the mother—look back.

"Yes, Samantha."

"Don't you recognize her?"

Oh God. She shouldn't have stopped to stretch; she could have avoided any trouble with curious, gossipy tourists if she had just continued her jog all the way to her house instead of letting her reluctance of facing her problems give her pause.

"Recognize who?" The driver, whose gruff, manly voice echoes a lot more strongly through the vehicle than the women's, makes Kaylie bend down a slight bit to see him.

_That face_... she instantly pictures a younger version of the man's face and that's what strikes her, sending a jackhammer to hit her in the ribcage and steal her breath from her lungs. For the second time that day, her brain feels as though it's slowly coming apart as the pieces of some puzzle come together instead.

"Here's the address!" The older lady seems to have stopped paying attention to her daughter, to the driver, and even to Kaylie's frozen frame, such is her happiness at having found the damn paper. "I'm visiting my son; he just moved into his house, which is the one on this address here."

Kaylie numbly reaches out and takes the paper, only bothering to look at it so she can confirm what her mind is screaming at her. She knows her face is blank, expressionless.

"Mom, I can't believe you don't recognize her. That's Kaylie Cruz. That's Austin's girlfriend."

The woman surveys Kaylie and smiles with surprise, reflecting the same kindness that Kaylie had detected before in her voice. "Well. Hello, dear. Are you Kaylie Cruz?"

Her voice won't come out. It just won't.

It has to. Answer her, Kaylie. "Yes. Hi, Mrs. Tucker."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Thanks for all the reviews! I never thought the response to this story would be so positive. Your support means so much to me! Please keep the feedback coming :)


	11. Comfortable

**A/N: **The longest chapter so far, to thank for all your reviews and support. This is a super important and fun chapter, full of twists and turns. I tried to cover everything while keeping it exciting, so I'm sorry if it feels rushed. I hope you guys enjoy the read and let me know what you think. Your encouragement means the world to me.

**CHAPTER 11: Comfortable**

"We weren't having sex." Austin's tone is breathless and pleading, and Kaylie's eyes dart from his shirtless, defeated figure to the disbelieving person who caught them, then down to her own messy hair and crumpled clothing.

This is going to be hard to explain.

* * *

><p><em>Previously that day...<em>

It's still relatively early in the day at only 11 in the morning, and Austin watches the movers carrying the remaining items of furniture from the moving truck to his house, being instructed by his decorator on where everything should be going. He stands at his new lawn, and grimly stares at the house next door.

It's sort of like a manor; he can't even guess how many rooms it has. It looks like it has three stories, and an enormous backyard. The whole structure makes his one-story home, which is large in its own right, look like a trailer. That house is also where Kaylie Cruz lives.

Kaylie—the girl who's driving him to such depth of insanity that he wants to run away from her—is now his next-door neighbor. No joke. No punchline. He's just moved next to his fake girlfriend, with whom he can barely get along, and there's not a damn thing to say or do about it. The paparazzi that always follow him around have already captured a few scenes from his move, and no doubt this story is making its rounds in print rooms everywhere. He's surprised MJ hasn't called yet.

He wonders when his parents are coming to visit him. As soon as he bought the house last week and concluded the escrow process, he hurried to call his mother and father and give them the good news. Making a home purchase seemed to him like a way to reassure them that he's on the right path; that he's taking on adult responsibilities and focusing on the future. The fact that Kaylie is his neighbor is going to throw a very inconvenient wrench in that. What if his parents think she's the reason he bought that house? That'll invalidate everything he was striving for when he made the purchase.

The last bookcase gets carried in and he makes his way to speak to the decorator, who then relays his general plan for the layout of the backyard. The inside is all done—all the rooms are painted, the wooden floors have been installed, and all his furniture is in place—but Austin wants a nice, luxurious pool in the back, like the one he had in the lake house. And this is what he and the decorator are exchanging ideas on when a sight from the corner of his eye drags his attention to the street.

Is that... is that his parents' station wagon?

Instantly, Austin steps outside, not being able to help a happy grin at the sight of his mother and father exiting the vehicle. Samantha, his younger sister, pops out from the passenger side and it becomes impossible for him to smile any wider.

That is, until Kaylie steps out from the other side of the wagon, and then his smile, his heartbeats, his movements, his brain activity, everything falters, because—goddamn, how the fuck did this happen—Kaylie met his parents.

He can't breathe. He can't move. Nothing in him seems to function.

"Hi, honey!" It takes his mother pulling him into a warm, snug embrace for him to snap into motion.

"Hi, mom," he stammers, voice strained and high-pitched. "Hi, dad. Samantha," he adds, hugging them as well. "Um. Welcome. To Boulder. To my house. My new home." Fuck! He can't string two words together. "I see you've met Kaylie." They nod; his mother seems pleased enough, while his dad is his usual non-expressive self, and his sister looks morbidly fascinated, like she's watching a car accident take place. He ventures a glance at Kaylie, and, adding to his panic, she has an unbelievable moody scowl. Of course she's mad—she didn't want to meet his parents either.

"Yes, we met Kaylie," his mother tells amicably, "it was such a nice coincidence, meeting her on our way here."

"We stopped her to ask for directions," Samantha cuts in helpfully, "and then I recognized her. From all the magazines. The ones that have all the interesting photographs of you two." She has the sneakiest, most irritating smirk on her face, and Austin has to swallow back his annoyance.

"You didn't tell us she was such a beautiful girl," his mother coos with a warm smile. "She must have been on her way to drop by and visit you too, since she was so close by." He watches Kaylie blanching, he can't help feeling some queasiness himself.

Shit. How is he going to put this?

"Well..." he begins, before his mind sputters blankly. Come on, Austin. Get this over with. "Mom... dad... I, uh... bought this house, right? Yeah, that house right there, though," he stutters, pointing to the Cruz residence weakly, "that's Kaylie's house. She's my neighbor now."

The silence that follows resembles a thick, poisonous cloud that descends comfortably into the middle of the group and hardens into a wall of frowns and confused looks. His eyes meet Kaylie's and, held by her sad, anxious gaze, he feels the seconds slow down.

Three...

Two...

One...

"Let me see if I understand this correctly," his father speaks up, and Austin flinches automatically because his father is not the kind of man whose words flow very often. "You bought a house next door to your girlfriend?" Austin swallows hard and nods quickly. "You didn't think of consulting us, but did you ask her parents? Did they have anything to say on the possible impropriety of this situation?"

Austin can barely breathe. His parents hate him. Oh my God; they hate him. He's a disgrace. He's a shame to the family. "It seems inappropriate, but... it's not... I'm not... I mean, it doesn't mean much, and we're not even that close, honestly, I haven't even visited her house yet, and we've only known each other for a few weeks; we don't even know where this is going, and me buying this house, I mean, this is a thirty-year mortgage and I don't even know her that well, honestly, I—"

"Austin," Kaylie cuts him off, pursing her lips while a flash of anger darkens her eyes. "Can I talk to you for a second?" She doesn't wait for a response, stepping forward and, as he's become accustomed to her doing, pulling his sleeve behind her. "I'll just be a minute," she reassures his family with a smile, each member still visibly stunned by his news. Once they're inside his living room, she shuts the door and turns to him with the sort of anger he'd never have guessed she was capable of demonstrating. "Austin! Have you lost your mind?"

"What are you talking about?" he asks, wondering why she, of all people, is angry with him when he has familial problems to tend to.

"What are you doing out there? Are you breaking up with me in front of your parents?"

_What?_ "I don't know what you're talking about," he replies with indignation, glad that he can redirect his frustration at his current predicament into whatever sort of fight they're having right now. "But I do know that I don't have time to be dealing with you since _my parents hate me_."

Kaylie crosses her arms and glares at him as though hopeful that he'll drop dead. "I have my parents to deal with, too. And in case you haven't noticed, everything will become much, much worse if we can't keep it together." He opens his mouth to argue, but she plows on, ignoring him. "We have to look like a real couple now, you moron. All we had to do was pose for pictures before, but now we have to sell our relationship to people who actually know us and will catch it if we're not convincing enough." Her clear, rational rant manages to calm him and temporarily drive his panic away in favor of thoughtfulness.

"That's a good point. So what do we do?"

"We... act like we're together." He can tell by her shifting gaze that she's double-guessing her suggestion.

Austin sighs and looks out his living room window, where he watches his family in deep discussion—in all likelihood, they're debating his sanity, his morality, his choices... and suddenly he's swept by a sickened feeling of worthlessness. He took on this fake-dating endeavor so he wouldn't seem like an inconsequential ladies' man, but Kaylie was right yesterday.

"_You're a dog, and the world knows you're a dog, so you brought this on yourself."_

But he's a changed man. How can he prove that? How can he show it?

Kaylie. Of course.

The newspapers have seen them together and some have optimistically proclaimed his redemption due to the fact that he's stuck with a girl for longer than a week. He just needs to do the same with his parents—be a good "boyfriend" to Kaylie, and his parents will see the same change that the papers have.

"Can you make me look good to my parents?" he asks hopefully, and Kaylie nods with a studying gaze.

"You trust me with your parents," she states solemnly, "and I'll trust you with mine."

"Deal."

Austin swallows hard in expectation of all the trouble facing them, but nonetheless decides to fully inhabit the boyfriend character and make their plan work. He's about to step outside when he feels Kaylie's hand envelop his gently; when he turns to her, she has a small, nervous smile and the light squeeze she gives his hand makes him force a smile back.

They make their way back to his family, and Kaylie is the first to speak up. "I'm sorry; thanks for waiting," she says gracefully, then moves on to ask, "where are you staying, Mrs. Tucker?"

"Well, dear, we plan on staying—" his mother begins to explain, when suddenly she's interrupted by an exclaimed call of "Kaylie!" coming from behind him. He sees Kaylie practically swaying on her feet with panic, letting go of his hand and containing a small gasp; that's when he turns around and sees a woman who looks a terrifying amount just like Kaylie, standing at the porch next door.

"Are these our neighbors?" By then, the person Austin assumes is Kaylie's mother has made her way to the group, smiling charmingly and cluelessly. "Hello!" She extends her hand to his mother, and Austin watches the two shake hands and extend pleasant smiles; all the while he's paralyzed and watching the scene taking place before him with widened eyes and a slackened jaw. "I'm your next-door-neighbor, Ronnie Cruz. I'm Kaylie's mother. Have you tried the cookies yet?" She pulls Kaylie to her side, and Austin can practically see Kaylie's brain imploding with horror, which she is at least wise enough to not show. "Austin, how nice of you to drop by," Mrs. Cruz states evenly when she notices his presence, devoid of most of her enthusiasm when she regards him.

"We are not your neighbors. My son is," his father speaks up, and this is when Austin's heart rate begins to gallop. Frantically, his mind is searching for a way out of the imminent argument—his parents still don't seem to have completely processed his news, and now they have to deal with Kaylie's mother finding this out at the same time.

"Who's your son?" Mrs. Cruz inquires, still smiling and still hugging Kaylie to her side while the latter looks positively faint.

"Austin," his mother says, her own smile faltering. "Austin Tucker is our son. You and your daughter... you're his neighbors, if I understand this correctly?"

The look of realization in Mrs. Cruz' face, as well the apologetic expression displayed by his family is what makes Austin extend his arms and herd the three Tucker members toward his house. "How about we talk about it inside?" He doesn't give anyone a chance to protest; turning back, he sees Kaylie nod understandingly and begin to pull her own horror-stricken mother to the Cruz residence.

This day needs to end already.

* * *

><p>At first, the announcement that her father will be returning home tonight, in only a few hours, makes Kaylie want to move out of the country and to the remotest place in the planet, to live the rest of her lifetime in solitude and silence. She can't imagine having to placate the sort of fury that Austin's move next door will cause. But then, just as she did when every other hurdle sprang into the path she's sharing with Austin in this whole fake-dating operation, she tames her panic down, and forces herself to breathe and think. She can do this. If they can convince their parents that they're actually good to each other, then most of the resistance will dissipate, she knows. For right now, she figures as she watches her mother lose her shit, all she has to do is be calm.<p>

And calm she remains, even when her reveal that Austin did not actually know she lived there before he bought the house is met with nothing but incredulity. Kaylie begins to tune out her mother about a minute into her indignant rant; all she catches are the more relevant phrases, like "what is that boy thinking," "do you know what your father will say about this?" and "I know we are a progressive society, but having you two practically living together this early in your teenage relationship is simply unacceptable!" before she has to turn her attention completely to the window in the living room facing Austin's house. She wonders how things are going in his side of the fence.

* * *

><p>His parents think it's scandalous, of course. If anything, they seem more nervous for Kaylie's parents than anything; his father very clearly admonishes that if one of Samantha's boyfriends ever bought a house next to them, he'd pull his shotgun out and make all the appropriate threats.<p>

It makes a lot of sense. And it really doesn't surprise him when they don't give a damn that he didn't know Kaylie lived there before he made the purchase—that isn't important.

Austin keeps silent, listening to their concerns and nodding accordingly. He hopes Kaylie is having more luck keeping her mother from coming after his hide.

* * *

><p>The yelling and the lectures end in the early afternoon, and the cease-fire is made official when her mother sighs dispiritedly, makes her way to Austin's home, knocks, and manages to apologize to Mrs. Tucker for not having had more time to greet her earlier.<p>

Kaylie watches from her porch, weary and tired. Her mood doesn't improve even when she hears the two mothers exchange a light-hearted laugh. From the corner of her eye she catches a moving figure at the strip of lawn that separates Austin's house from hers, and she doesn't need to think twice before following the shadow.

"How are you?" he whispers when they rendezvous behind some taller bushes.

"Alive. You?"

"Fine. My mother is inviting your mother to get together for dinner at my place tonight."

"I figured," she shrugs. "My father is coming back too... he'll be joining us." She's sure he would have registered more panic than simply a raised eyebrow had they been less exhausted. Sympathetically, she extends her hand to his forearm. She appreciates his warmth against her cold hands. "Did MJ call you?"

"Yeah... didn't say much, except that she's coming to the gym tomorrow to talk to us in person."

"That's what she told me too," she confirms in a low voice.

"We need to get to know each other better," he announces quietly, ending their comfortable silence. "My mother had a few questions about you and it really seemed like I had no idea who you are."

"Yes," she agrees with a chuckle, "we're practically strangers. We need to learn about each other." She's struck by an idea that she immediately recognizes is one of her more brilliant ones. "Write down fifty things I should know about you, and I'll do the same, and then we'll study it."

His grins silently acknowledges her good idea. "All right. And hey, just so I can answer this when I go back, what should I say was our first date?"

"Um... I don't know..." She racks her brain to think of something she and Austin would have done together when they first met. "Where do you usually take girls for first dates?"

"A club," he answers simply, and Kaylie can't help her immediate recoil. He doesn't notice her reaction; he's narrowing his eyes distantly, deep in thought. "Maybe the beach. Somewhere where we won't be wearing a lot of clothes. And it has to be close by a hotel, or something, in case I wanna seal the deal." At this, Kaylie slaps his arm with as much strength as she can muster, and although it clearly doesn't hurt him, it does surprise him.

"You _pig_," she accuses with disbelief, mixed in with a good amount of disgust. "You're the worst boyfriend in the world!"

"No, I'm not," he denies firmly, almost laughing at her ire.

"What do you give girls for their birthdays?"

"I don't really keep up with their birthdays—"

She slaps him again, grinding her teeth. "What gifts do you give then, for any occasion that you _happen_ to remember?"

"That's easy. Lingerie."

Another slap, and a roll of eyes from him. "Do you let your dates pick the movie?"

"Why would I let—"

She begins to actually feel her arm muscles straining when she slaps him for the fourth time. "This is ridiculous. We not only need a crash course on each other's lives, but I also need to put you through a boyfriend bootcamp!"

"Are you joking?" The moron has the nerve to look baffled.

Her irritation is flaring dangerously so she decides to create some distance between them before she ends up punching him in the face. "Just get the list of fifty things done, and we'll talk later." She stands up in huff to return to her house, and thinks with annoyance that she can't believe it—out of all the men in the world that she had to get stuck fake-dating, Austin the Asshole had to be it.

* * *

><p>It's chilly, but Kaylie still wears a simple dress to the dinner because a) she's going to be doing a lot of hyperventilating, and b) because Austin's mother seems like the sort of old-fashioned lady who likes feminine women.<p>

There's so much riding on this single gathering that Kaylie is certain she's never been this nervous about anything outside of a competition.

There's also her dad... and how he got home about an hour ago. She hasn't talked to him yet, supplying excuse after excuse—she's showering, she's changing, she's still doing her hair—so she won't have to step out of her room and hear his thoughts on this latest development.

She tries to distract herself and think of what she should put in her list of fifty facts about her life, but it's exponentially more difficult to mentally make that list now that she's glanced at the clock and realized she and her parents are due at Austin's house in only ten minutes. And as though on cue, her mother knocks at her door and steps in.

"Kaylie, it might be a little cold tonight for a dress."

"Oh, I'm not cold at all," she replies, straining her words out in an attempt to sound casual.

"Kaylie." Oh Jesus. Her father is standing behind her mother. She swallows hard and is glad, overjoyed in fact, that she's sitting down so they won't see her entire body paralyzed with fear.

"Hi, dad." Pull yourself together, Kaylie. "How was... your, um, trip?"

She's pretty sure the look he's giving her was the same he used back in the heyday to intimidate other baseball players. And she's pretty sure it worked back then, just as it's working now.

"We'll get to my trip later. Your mother gave me a summarized version of what happened today," he says gruffly, and Kaylie notes that at the very least, his voice isn't angry. It might even, in fact, sound sort of understanding. "Let's get this dinner over with. Ronnie?"

"We'll be right there," her mother assures her father, and the latter steps out, the sounds of his descent down the stairs faintly registering in her ears. "Kaylie... regardless of the circumstances right now, this is the first time we're having dinner with a boyfriend of yours and his family. I've already spoken to your father; we'll try to make this a good experience for you."

She must be hallucinating. Kaylie's entire body unfreezes suddenly, such is her relief. "Thanks, mom."

* * *

><p>"You just can't be comfortable around me, can you?"<p>

Kaylie gapes at the indignant boy, sure that her hearing must be deceiving her. They're standing in one of his guestrooms upstairs, and mentally, she runs a recap of the evening just to be certain that she isn't having some sort of amnesia. She's not the one who's been uncomfortable with him, at least not for the most part. Right?

Well... to say that the dinner so far has been a resounding disaster might be an exaggeration, but it also isn't a success by any measure. And the fault, surprisingly, hasn't been the parents', who have all behaved amicably and pleasantly. The fault is theirs—it's hers and Austin's, because they absolutely _cannot_ act like they're the loving couple they agreed to be.

She admits that the bad turn of events began with her.

She and Austin were seated next to one another, with her parents to her right, and the Tuckers in front of them and at the head of the table. She attempted to call his attention by nudging his arm, but perhaps because he was very, very nervous (especially after receiving a very special bone-crushing handshake from her father), and perhaps because she didn't have the forethought to warn him that she was going to touch him, the end result of that simple motion was a startled Austin loudly banging his knee against the table, sending a quake to rattle all the fancy china and sparkling utensils and glasses.

Then it was his turn. The conversation had been flowing smoothly enough—although, now that she thinks about it, she and Austin were absolutely silent, wide-eyed and just generally tense—until Austin rose to get dessert from the kitchen. Shortly after, she excused herself to help him, and they ended up almost colliding at the doorway. She moved to the side to allow him passage, but simultaneously he did the same. Then she moved to the other side, at the same time that he had the exact idea, and they almost crashed again.

"Um. Just... go to the right," he instructed in a hushed murmur, and finally they were able to cross paths.

Still embarrassed by the scene that had just taken place, Kaylie pondered on how she could demonstrate to their parents that their children aren't as awkward around each other as they've been shown to be thus far. Slowly, she attempted to lean back against Austin's chest, only to look back after a second and notice that he had actually backed away. It took him a second to realize what she had done, and how he'd responded, but by then, Samantha Tucker seemed to be frowning their way and the parents were watching them out of the corner of their eyes while attempting to carry on their Olympics-themed conversation.

She didn't have time to be mad at his reaction, because a few minutes later, she felt something heavy settle on her shoulder, and instantly she recoiled—before realizing that Austin had just tried to place his arm around her shoulders.

Please God, she had thought, just end our misery right now.

When the parents settled down into the living room to chat over coffee, Austin discreetly pulled her upstairs under the guise of showing her where the bathrooms were.

And that's how they're standing here right now, inside a sparse room with only an obviously new bed and a bedstand to make them feel as though they're not completely alone. Kaylie blinks a few more times, then replies to his first question, "I can be comfortable around you. You're the one who acts like you're allergic to me."

Austin's reaction is a scandalized, horrified gasp. "Me? I tried to put my arm around you and you dodged it like it was a boa constrictor about to strangle you."

"I touched your arm and you acted like I had stabbed it!" she shoots back, minding her volume but also very much willing to express all her anger.

"Your plan was bullshit," he accuses sharply, sending Kaylie's temper flaring. "It all depended on us being able to act like we're actually together, and you can't even be comfortable with me."

Oh so this is how he's playing it? "Stop blaming this on me, jerk. At least I had a plan. You just stood in your living room crying about your parents not loving you."

"You can yap all you want, princess, but at the end of the day, you're the one who's uptight, and a prude, and I can only work with the material I'm given." Austin laughs humorlessly, and because he's mocking her and not only her plan, something inside Kaylie breaks, and floods over and washes her with reckless, blind anger.

"You're comfortable with me, huh," she hisses dangerously, pushing him violently onto the bed before she leans down in front of him, grabs his collar and makes sure she holds nothing back of the blazing fury inside her. "Let's put that to the test."

This is war, and this asshole is going down.

She straddles him on the bed, pushing him down roughly when he rolls his eyes and attempts to sit up. "I'm sorry, is this making you uncomfortable?"

"Nice try, princess," he taunts with derision.

"Oh, I wasn't done yet, numbskull." She proceeds to press her lips to his, ignoring his surprise, ignoring her own internal reprehensions; Kaylie just kisses him, hard and furious, and mad.

She can tell he's just as enraged as she is. It occurs to her that he probably loathes her just as much she loathes him. That's why he sits up, grabs her hips and pulls her body closer to his at the same time that she grabs a fistful of his hair. He sucks on her lower lip a bit too roughly, and that gives her permission to slap his chest. The kiss has deepened so quickly that she thinks they might be breathing in each other's air, and her mouth is going to be swollen if they don't stop soon.

But it doesn't stop. She shifts on his lap, he tightens his hold on her hip, and she breaks the kiss to shoot him a glare and angrily say, "you're giving me bruises."

"You're pulling my hair out," Austin retorts with hatred, without missing a beat.

In response, she gives him a poisonous smile and tugs on the same patch of hair she's had in her fist this whole time. "Like this?"

"Yeah," he confirms, grinding his teeth with thinly-veiled fury. "Like that."

Then he smashes his lips against hers again, and there's truly a battle going on inside their mouths, a war being waged with tongues over dominance, and she even gives his lip a small, slight bite to see whether he gives up any ground, but all it does is make one of his hands burn a trail of rough touches from her hip, up her back and to the nape of her neck, where he holds her in place and has his tongue perform motions that leave her mildly light-headed and very much aware that their shared temperature keeps rising and she's almost perspiring.

She breaks the kiss off to regain her air, but he uses the pause to flip her onto her back. Kaylie refrains from slapping his face, choosing instead to send him the angriest, steeliest glare she can form, stating evenly, "in case you doubted it, I'm perfectly comfortable."

"Really? Even when I do this?" He runs his hand gently down the length of her bare thigh, finger ghosting on her skin and setting every nerve ending ablaze. Crap. She shouldn't have worn a dress. Now her leg feels like it's sprouted a thousand extra nerve endings in every inch of skin he touched. She almost wants to punch the cocky grin off his face.

"Nope."

She musters enough strength to push him off her and to her side, moving quickly to straddle him again, because this is a better position to intimidate him. She undoes the three buttons keeping his shirt closed, and almost laughs when his eyes widen at the sudden exposure of his chest. "I think I see a little discomfort in your face right now," she accuses, sounding obnoxious on purpose, then figures she might as well pay him back for touching her thigh—she uses a single index finger to slowly trail a winding path from his collarbone to his pectoral area, down to his bellybutton and waist. She watches him squirm slightly, hissing with each inch that she conquers on her way down to his hip. He inhales sharply when she uses both hands to contour his abdominal muscles, and then thinks triumphantly: this it it—I won. There's no way he—

Abruptly, she feels her body being braced and then pinned down. The moron has flipped them over _again_, and she can feel one of his knees between her legs, keeping her in place so she won't be able to have him on his back again. He removes his shirt completely and tosses it to the side, and she knows he's not showing his body off—he's getting rid of what has become a nuisance while simultaneously making sure she knows how strong he is.

"Is that all you got?" She feels the need to antagonize, if only so he knows that he's nowhere near winning this.

"No, it isn't," he huffs, leaning down so they're almost chest to chest. "_Wench_."

"Bring it on, _jackass_," she responds flippantly, wishing more than anything that she were a bigger person, just to punch him with enough force to hurt.

At her heated insult and challenge, Austin's glare shifts from her eyes, and before she can help it, or smack his chest, or push him away, or distract him with another angry kiss, he lowers his head to her neck.

In an instant, his breath is warm against her jugular and she's raised her hands to his cheeks, intending to push him away and gain enough room to slap him. Instead, she feels his lips press against her flushed skin, and the breath-stealing shiver that follows makes her movements slow down. She forgets what she set out to do, because now she's mentally battling the odd sensation flooding her senses; the feeling that she's liquefying and floating, worse and worse as his slow, deliberate kisses make their way from the lower part of her neck up towards her earlobe. Her hands are resting on either side of his face, and Austin's lips linger on her skin after each kiss, almost as though he's waiting for her heartbeats to match the pace of his lips.

It's hard, almost impossible, to take a breath. She has to squeeze her eyes shut, to make sure her limbs aren't flying away from her, to make sure the room isn't dissolving around them.

Just as his mouth reaches the area of her neck just below her ear, she starts to think that this is toomuch toomuch_ toomuch_, and everything is just too overwhelming for her to bear—she needs to win this, and she needs air, but she can't draw a breath while his lips press against the most sensitive spot in her neck; she can't breathe when she feels his tongue make contact with her skin, she can't breathe when he begins to suck lightly on that single spot, she just can't breathe; she needs him to stop so she can think clearly.

She's losing, and fast.

And she just can't lose, even if it feels good to be losing.

Kaylie angles her head down and pulls his head from her neck so she can kiss him instead. Her movements are still languid because her mind is hazy and foggy and she's feeling feverish—she has to deepen the kiss immediately because she needs to breathe, and it seems like he's the only source of oxygen in the room. Her heartbeats finally seem to settle into some pattern of regularity, but then she notices that his body feels heavier on hers now; how hadn't she noticed that he no longer has a knee between her legs, and that instead she can feel her thighs on each side of his hips? Also, they're chest to chest and the sensation isn't bad; she knows next time she's standing more than two inches from him, it'll feel like he's very far away.

"Oh my God!"

It all happens very, very quickly. One moment she's suffocating, pulling Austin with her as they drown in the engulfing mattress, and in the next, they hear that loud "oh my God!" and an even louder crashing sound—something heavy hit the wooden floor. One moment she's breaking the kiss to turn her attention to the doorway, and in the next, she's smacked her forehead against Austin's cheekbone, Austin has slid off her body and has fallen onto the floor, attempting to reach his sister before she takes off running.

"Wait, Sam—Sam! Ow, my face..."

"Oh my God!" the girl repeats, as though for emphasis, and Kaylie feels the color that's been drained from her face come back in the form of the deepest, most fiery blush she's ever displayed. "I—I'm sorry; I had no idea you guys would be—I was looking for the bathroom—I didn't mean to—I'm so sorry!"

Austin springs to his feet, clutching his cheek and immediately rushing his words; "N-no, I'm sorry you saw that; we weren't—I mean, it wasn't—listen, I'm so sorry; you weren't meant to see that."

Kaylie notices a purse on the floor, thinking that the sight explains the crashing sound from before. A sudden ache slams into Kaylie's head, and she winces, raising a hand to her the part of her forehead that is currently throbbing painfully.

"We weren't having sex." Austin's tone is breathless and pleading, and Kaylie's eyes dart from his shirtless, defeated figure to the disbelieving person who caught them, then down to her own messy hair and crumpled clothing.

This is going to be hard to explain.


	12. Bandages

**CHAPTER 12: Bandages**

While most of his focus is on explaining things to Samantha in a way that won't require her to get therapy later, Austin does occasionally sneak a peek at Kaylie, who is sitting idly on the bed and examining the room with mild interest after having fixed her clothes and hair. He raises a hand to his throbbing cheek and then flashes of their encounter on that bed cloud over his eyes and he has to summon enormous willpower to stop himself from reliving every moment. He still smells like her, and his hand still burns with the feel of her skin.

Kaylie Cruz is gonna be the death of him.

"So this is why you bought the house... to be close to her." He turns his attention fully to Samantha.

"Jesus Christ, Sam; haven't you been listening to me? It had nothing to do—"

"No, this is fine," Samantha says brusquely, shaking her shoulder free of his grasp and picking up her purse from the floor. Her gestures make her seem older than sixteen. "I won't tell mom and dad anything. Just... let's not ever, ever again, talk about the time I walked in on you and your girlfriend." She gives Kaylie a pointed look; luckily Kaylie doesn't see it because she's combing her hair with her fingers. "Lock your door next time," Samantha whispers.

UGH. "All right... I'll see you downstairs... the bathroom is two doors down," he informs her defeatedly, then sits back on the bed beside Kaylie and buries his face in his hands.

"We should go back to the dinner," Kaylie announces, surprisingly calm. "Let me just fix your hair first."

He allows her access to his hair, glad he can slump his shoulders and physically express his frustration with her, because she suffered the embarrassment too. "You have a bump on your forehead, by the way."

"Your cheek is swollen." Her hands are gently but efficiently smoothing down his hair, and when her fingers brush the patch of scalp she had been pulling on before, he swallows hard and tries his very best not to think about it.

"Is the dinner almost over?"

"Almost." The silence in the room, accentuated by her quiet voice, begins to calm him down.

"We made it."

"Yeah," she chuckles dryly, lowering her arms beside her and examining his hairdo. "I guess we did. Kind of."

Kaylie's eyes lock on his, and he shakes away the oddest feeling that there were a lot of places he wishes he had gotten to kiss before they were interrupted—but that's just the stress talking. "Yeah. Kind of."

* * *

><p>They do, in fact, survive the dinner. No one comments on how long they stayed upstairs while Austin showed her "where the bathroom is," and no one asks about their swollen forehead and cheek. Samantha acts no different than she had before she stumbled into their room. It appears that the Cruzes and the Tuckers have managed to get along rather nicely, and for that, Kaylie has to be grateful and relieved.<p>

The families part ways just before 10pm. Kaylie exchanges a few words with her parents, knowing they're waiting for a better time to have a talk to her meant to reinforce everything she already knows—yes, of course she can't sneak Austin in to engage in inappropriate behavior, and yes of course she isn't going to sneak into his room in the middle of the night either. Then Kaylie is tiredly performing her pre-sleep routine of brushing her teeth and applying the usual night cream on her skin. She stands in front of her mirror and studies her reflection apprehensively.

It's not just the bump on her forehead. Sure, it's currently aching painfully and that painkiller she took earlier isn't doing its job, but that bump isn't the only place reminding her of Austin. She's been trying, almost desperately, not to think about what happened on that bed, but now everything is coiled so tightly inside her that she knows she'll have to take a minute and just... think about it, just once, to get it out of her system. She'll just address the issue, get her body and mind on the same page, and then she can just be at peace with it.

First of all, it didn't mean anything. Yes, her heart raced and she couldn't breathe properly, but everything they did was out of anger. They were both pissed off.

Her eyes linger on her hip, then wander down to her leg. He touched those places, and they begin to burn again with the memory, like he might as well be there right then, fingers toying with her skin.

Kaylie clears her throat. Second, it's not like it will happen again.

Her neck is tingling. That specific spot just above her jugular, that he licked and then sucked on, is screaming at her, and she almost raises a hand to silence it, but instead stubbornly decides to stand her ground.

Third, it wasn't all that. Austin is not all that. Sure, his body is intimidatingly perfect, sculpted and yet surprisingly soft to the touch, and his lips might as well come with an addiction warning, but that doesn't mean she enjoyed touching him, or kissing him.

The kissing. How has she not gotten used to kissing him yet? They've done it a couple of times now, right? Granted, he was never sucking on her lower lip and her tongue was never all the way in his mouth, fighting his. So of course, there had been some minor differences. But still...

Her lips are swollen. Goddamn.

And she ate a little dessert afterward, and she drank some juice and now she's brushed her teeth, but she swears she can taste him on her lips; it makes her a little light-headed.

Fourth... she can't like him. She just can't. It'd be the end of her.

She needs to think about something else. Gymnastics! She can totally think about gymnastics instead of Austin. More specifically, that dismount she needs to fix. Abruptly, Kaylie leaves the mirror and steps onto the small scale she keeps in her room, the one she rarely uses because there's a professional scale in her exercise room.

Okay, so... she's right about her usual weight. But maybe that's the weight a national champion would have, but not the weight of an Olympic champion. Genji Cho looked to be about her height when she saw her last time, and yet she was significantly leaner. And damn it, she has the triple back on the uneven bars, which is a skill Kaylie hasn't even _attempted_.

Five pounds. She'll lose five pounds and see if that helps.

* * *

><p>He's late to the gym. He almost berates himself for it—for allowing Kaylie to consume his every thought and making it impossible for him to sleep—but then he parks his car and notices that Kaylie is hurriedly snatching her bag from her car, too. Which means she's also late, which means Sasha can lecture them both, not just him.<p>

He notices the bandage on her forehead; her eyes settle on the bandage stuck on his cheek, and they trade glum nods in recognition of their simultaneous effort to hide every evidence they have of the night before.

"Morning," she grumbles as they walk in.

"Here's my list," he states moodily. _That_, he had time to do, of course, because the wench was so goddamn adamant about getting this done.

"Here's mine," she replies, swapping papers with him, obviously in no peachy mood either. "See you at lunch."

Kelly materializes beside him, walking in step with him towards the annex. "Trouble in paradise?"

"No," he answers mechanically, marveling at just how foul his mood is. "Kaylie and I are great."

"You know what's funny, Austin?" By the mischievous sparkle in her light eyes, and the way she has a supremely cocky, satisfied smirk on her face, Austin knows that whatever she's about to say, it'll be funny only to her. "How do two people who are dating have that much unresolved sexual tension?"

Mentally, he answers her question—because he can't resolve it, that's why. Because they're not real. It was easy to get along with her before because he didn't know her, and didn't want her. Now that she's close, and he knows who she is, and now that she's like some goddamn drug he's constantly craving, his whole life has gone to shit.

"That wasn't funny."

He goes about his day as normally as he can, every once in a while having to dodge questions from curious gym mates about what happened to his cheek, and is it true that he bought a house next to Kaylie Cruz?

His patience wears dangerously thin when even Max feels at liberty to comment, "I just mean... it seems like you guys are really serious—"

Austin slams his hand braces down onto the top of the pommel horse and turns to Max with a glare. "Ask me about Kaylie _one more time_." The loud slap echoes through the annex but luckily the two are alone; Max is free to jump back slightly, examining Austin with a deep frown.

"Dude... you need to chill."

No—no, he doesn't. "She's driving me nuts." He has to restrain an enormous impulse to grind his teeth and start punching the walls. Suddenly, he can't help voicing his thoughts. "And the more I know her, Max, the worse it gets."

"That... made no sense whatsoever. What the hell are you talking about?"

Austin knows his friend means well. In any other day, he'd be appreciative of his curiosity, a sign that he cares.

But not today. Because today he can't fucking stop thinking about her, and talking about her isn't making it any better.

Instead of responding to his friend, Austin picks up his hand braces from the pommel horse and marches to the still rings. One day, perhaps, Kaylie Cruz will rob him of his sanity completely—but this won't be that day.

* * *

><p><em>What the...<em>

Kaylie skims over Austin's list while she opens her locker and then performs an obligatory eyeroll. Among the fifty facts he listed about himself, he included his body fat percentage (3%), all the cars he's ever owned (8), the number of companies endorsing him (15), how many pounds he can bench-press (300lbs.), and many, many other inane and completely irrelevant bits of information. Meanwhile, she told him about her phobias (severe injuries), all her broken bones, the first boy she kissed, her favorite movies, her favorite bands, and even what she likes most about each of her parents.

The disparaging range of quality between these two lists is atrocious, but she should have known that would be the case—Austin's main characteristic is his confidence (cockiness, more like) after all.

She wants to march over to him and demand a revised list that doesn't sound like constant bragging, but she's too distracted by a headache. The clatter of a nearby locker being slammed shut sounds like a gunshot to her ears. She shoots a look to the source of the bang and catches sight of Lauren, rolling her eyes and pretending Kaylie is beneath her notice. Kaylie sighs with irritation but ignores it, concentrating on finishing the binding on her ankles and waiting for Lauren to leave. When the blond at last exits the locker room, Kaylie sighs again and stares into her empty bags with sinking spirits.

She's sleep-deprived and hungry, and only the hunger part was intentional. She's figured out that her diet is already balanced and restrictive as it is—in order to lose those five pounds she'll have to skip a few meals, and breakfast might as well be it. The fact that Lauren is still pissy with her is only worsening her outlook.

"So... you look like you're in a mood," she hears Payson comment softly beside her. She turns to acknowledge it and appreciates it that her friend came alone; Emily is her friend too, but not close enough that she's comfortable showing her bad side.

"Is it that obvious?" Kaylie responds flatly, unable to infuse any emotion into her voice.

Payson takes a step closer to her, as though deciding Kaylie's not as dangerous as she's looking. "I heard you met Austin's family, and he met yours." Her pause tells Kaylie that she's gauging her reaction, but Kaylie doesn't display one, so she continues. "That's a pretty big step for you guys."

"He's my neighbor. It's not a big step." Kaylie knows how she sounds—monotone and sour and just cranky—and she hates herself for behaving like this with the girl who is currently her only friend. "I'm sorry, I'm just... it didn't go that well."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just a mess, Pay." She sighs and slumps down onto the wooden bench by her locker. "And there's this weird atmosphere with him, and Lauren still isn't talking to me..." Resigned, Kaylie stands and gathers her hair up to pull it into her usual ponytail, commenting moodily, "I'm glad that you're still on my side, at leas..." before trailing off when she catches Payson widening her eyes and then pursing her lips. "What."

"Your, um... you have something on your neck."

"Where?"

Payson looks embarrassed suddenly, focus shifting from Kaylie to the lockers around them. Kaylie even stares at the floor for a while, too, wondering why her friend looks so fascinated by it all of a sudden. "Your left side."

"What are you talking..." The rest of Kaylie's sentence dies on her lips when she raises a hand to touch that side of her neck, and a quick flash of memory makes her light-headed; Austin's lips and tongue on her skin, trailing hot kisses that burned her. She has to blink the memory away. "Oh," she breathes out quietly, "I have a hickey there, don't I."

"Yeah," Payson confirms with a grimace. "It doesn't look that big, but you can definitely see it now that your hair is up."

"I'll just put some concealer on it," Kaylie tells her in a business-like manner, already perusing through her locker to find a bottle of make-up. She's learned not to let her thoughts dwell too much into anything Austin-related.

"Won't you sweat it off?"

The observation makes her pause. "You're right. I need a band-aid. Well, another one," she amends after remembering that she already has one covering the bruise on her forehead.

"I'll put it on, since you can't see it."

"Thanks, Pay."

They're silent while Payson carefully peels a bandage and lays it on her skin, smoothing it over her neck gently. When she does speak, her voice is so soft that Kaylie can barely hear it."I assume this was Austin?"

Kaylie swallows hard, then regrets it because Payson must have felt it, having her hand by her throat right then. "Yeah…"

"You like him." She's not inquisitorial, doesn't sound like she's pressing her for details, and doesn't seem bothered by it. Her statement is matter-of-fact and simple—a very Payson-like attitude. It's hard then for Kaylie not to turn to her, and cry and whine about things that seem to be so far beyond her control. But she can't say anything, and everything that is a secret must remain one for now—maybe they'll be secrets forever, even, although the mere thought of that is exhausting.

Her answer rolls off her tongue without her thinking; "I guess I do. More than I should."

"More than you should?"

There's silence again, pounding against her ears, making her aware of her heartbeats. "It's hard to explain." She closes her eyes, hoping fervently that Payson won't ask any additional questions, because she isn't sure she'll be able to keep anything to herself anymore.

"All done," Payson announces, then steps back and watches Kaylie with a small, sympathetic smile. "Ready to go?"

She doesn't know what she'd do without Payson. "Now I am."

* * *

><p>They avoid each other, of course. She's not sure who starts the avoidance—him or her—but they seem to come to a mutual agreement that today they'd rather not have anything to do with the other, and so their day progresses, with nary an interaction between them.<p>

She also isn't certain of the reason they're running away from each other like this, making sure they're never within ten feet of each other, but she knows why she can't be near him. Austin is… kind of like a drug. That's what she's surmised from her recent encounters with him. The closer she gets to him, the closer she wants to be to him, and that's pretty unacceptable. They're not real—that's the whole point of what they're doing, and yet, things keep feeling realer and realer. She's not sure of what she's pretending to feel, and what she's actually feeling. The lines are getting too blurry.

On her way to the chalk bowl she witnesses a truly eye-roll-inducing event: Kelly Parker and Lauren are arguing over use of the balance beam, of course.

"One would think unwelcome visitors know that home gymnasts get priority pick at their apparatus."

"Yes, one _would_ think. But _you_ don't think, so your point is moot."

Kaylie decides these two are not worth wasting any time watching, and makes her way to the vault. An under-rotation on her Yurchenko causes her to shorten her revolution in order to make the landing, and consequently, a flurry of frustration washes over her. She stares at the vault pad, and mentally replays her movements. She's too heavy. That's the problem here.

A bead of sweat makes her aware of its path when it causes one of the sides of her bandage to peel off. She doesn't know why the neck bandage is the one falling off when there's more sweat on her forehead, but it's not like that matters anyway. She sticks it back onto her skin, but knows how precariously it's hanging there; knows she needs to replace it with a new one. With that goal in mind, she turns abruptly on her heels towards the locker room and crashes against a surprised Austin.

Instantly, her breath catches in her throat and her muscles freeze.

Oh my God; he's so close. It's impossible to see anything else but broad shoulders, green eyes, and a mouth she's kissed too many times to forget properly.

"You okay?" His voice vibrates off the walls of her heart.

Stop, Kaylie. Just stop. It's not real, it's not real, it's not real.

She snaps out of it.

"Hi, Austin," she murmurs, then turns and sees MJ standing next to him, dwarfed by his build. "Hey, MJ."

"Come to my office. I have updates for you two."

It turns out that for the past week she's been the most searched-for female athlete on the internet, and her pictures are worth quite a sum—any snapshots of her with Austin are worth an even more exorbitant amount of money. Her romance with him has been painted in the media exactly as MJ blueprinted from the beginning; she "reformed" Austin from his evil manwhore ways into the ideal boyfriend, who even bought a house next to hers—such is his devotion. Kaylie can't help gagging a bit at the cheesier parts of the overall narrative; apparently she's a very innocent and good-intentioned girl who took Austin on as a project. And of course, the entire nation believes they're in love: honest-to-God, let's-get-married-tomorrow love.

Everyone must be blind, is what she thinks immediately, until MJ casually shows them the latest candid shots of them, most from the day before, when Austin moved next door, and much to her horror, they do look very close. She doesn't know how this happens—she swears they were arguing and being horrible to each other most of the time, but the pictures show him laughing, show her smiling, show him leaning his body against her, show her comfortably touching his arm with her hands. It'd horrify her more if it didn't puzzle her so much. When is this stuff _happening_? She raises a hand to press the bandage to her neck again, to keep it from falling off.

"How are we looking on my endorsements?" Austin's anxious inquiry snaps her out of her reverie.

"Not very good. We need more time." MJ crosses her arms and narrows her eyes for a second, studying them intently. She then sits directly in front of Kaylie, and Kaylie's discomfort spikes almost painfully. The agent is too, too close to her. She's going to notice the chaos in her mind, and she's going to know Austin is at the corner where everything is unraveling. "The home purchase, making you two neighbors… that was quite a stunt. Even I wasn't certain of the direction to which I should take that."

"It wasn't—" she and Austin both begin, then halt simultaneously. He picks up the sentence where they left off. "Intentional. I didn't know she lived there. Right, Kaylie?"

Austin turns to her and she nods, grateful that she doesn't have to explain for the 400th time that she didn't actually want her fake-boyfriend living next door to her. But then his eyes wander to her neck, where she's still pressing the bandage to her hickey, and because of the intensity of his gaze, MJ's focus shifts to the same spot.

"Why are you two covered in band-aids?"

There's no point in lying, she thinks. "I accidentally hit my forehead against his cheek." Austin nods his agreement, but he licks his lips with a frown, and she almost pulls him to the side to tell him that his lips are the reason she hasn't been herself all day. For the first time since everything took place in that empty room, Kaylie thinks that what happened the day before is something she'd like to do again.

It's not real, it's not real, it's not real, _it'snotreal_...

"And the neck?"

"Oh, this," Kaylie says, trying hard to sound dismissive, and sensing the own strain in her voice. "It's nothing." She knows she needs to pull her hand away. She can't keep holding that bandage there while insisting that it's nothing.

Please, _please_, she whispers in her head, don't fall off.

She lowers her hand from her neck, and the bandage falls off her skin.

_Motherfucker..._

Kaylie can't even look at Austin, but she does want to watch the agent, to catch her reaction, because part of her wants to be defiant and say, 'yes, this is a hickey, and I totally got it from Austin! This was your idea!' But there's a larger, weightier part of her that silences that urge and has her look to the side instead, to a stack of magazines nearby. The cover picture on the topmost magazine is certainly very odd; Austin has his hand on the small of her back while she turns to look at him over her shoulder, trading a smile and looking generally like the very happy person that she isn't.

"You two..." MJ begins after a shallow sigh, but in a quick, business-like manner, moves on to "well, all right then," clearing her throat, standing up and towering over their hunched figures. "I'll keep you two updated on any new developments. Keep up the great work. We're almost done."

* * *

><p>"Lunch?" Austin asks Kaylie, even if he's really hoping he doesn't have to see her for at least the rest of the day. They're standing a few yards away from the gym's main entrance, and various gym mates are leaving for their lunch breaks. Now that there's no bandage hiding her hickey from view, it's impossible for him not to keep stealing peeks at the small, strawberry-like mark on her neck.<p>

And to think he did that.

"I think we should just... head our separate ways, and study our lists," Kaylie tells him, nodding a few times.

Crap. His list was shit compared to hers. "Hey, I'll write a new list. I can give it to you tonight."

"Sounds good." Her voice is distant, and her general paleness makes him wonder whether she's severely under stress or maybe is just tired and hungry.

"I have some extra food, if you want," he offers, hoping he doesn't sound too invested in her answer. "My mom cooked it." Oh wow—that made him sound so lame. He hurries to take it back, before she can register a reaction. "I mean, I cook too. I know how to make my own food."

Kaylie cocks her head to the side slightly, watching him with what he thinks is amusement. "It's okay, really. I haven't been hungry."

Once again, there are red flags exploding inside his mind—this is what Samantha used to say. This is how it started. Instantly, his heart rate spikes and he can almost sense his internal temperature rising as well.

"You're not..." The words feel so heavy on his tongue. "You're not trying to lose weight, are you?"

She shrugs, noncommittal, and he holds his breath. "Not a lot of weight. But maybe a little bit, just to help my dismounts."

Shit. SHIT.

"Um..." How can he say this? How can he be firm, without alarming her, or pissing her off, or making it all worse? How the fuck is he supposed to keep it from happening all over again?

He cares. Holy fuck—he cares _so much_ about this that he can't breathe properly, and his vision has melted into a blur of images, a dichotomy of Samantha's painful anorexia-stricken days, with Kaylie's smiles and kisses and laughs.

"You need to gain muscle," he forces out, hoping his voice carries just enough force to convince her. "Not lose weight. If you gain muscle, you'll be faster. If you lose weight, you'll just be weaker. Believe me, the last thing your gymnastics needs is for you not to have the strength to complete your skills. I'll help you. I'll help you with your dismounts."

The only thing he can do then is watch her. He's made his pitch, and short of begging her to let him help her, there's not much else he can do.

He's thinking she's going to laugh his words off, but then... she smiles.

"You can help me with that?"

Oh my God. His heart soars and he swears his chest has expanded, to contain all the flutters quaking through him.

"Yeah. I'll help you with that," he says with a wider grin than he thinks he should have, but sue him—he's too happy. "I'll always help you, Kaylie. I'm always going to be here." Austin isn't sure of what he's saying anymore, but Kaylie is smiling again, and finally—finally!—the world feels right again.

"All right then," she says with a nod, smiling as she eyes him with wonder, "we'll use my gym, since you don't have your own anymore. And we'll meet tonight."

"Sounds good." He keeps on grinning, and then laughs at just how uncool he's being right now. "Sorry, I'm just... anyway, I gotta go." The longer he stays here, gawking at her and wondering how someone could have been born this hot, the more chances he's going to have to embarrass himself. "I actually have a videoconference with Kobalt sunglasses today. I was gonna head home and figure out a way to cover up this cheek redness so they don't know my face is currently not at its finest."

Kaylie instantly perks up. "I can use my make-up to cover it, if you want."

"Really? Girl make-up?"

She rolls her eyes, adorably. "Skin is skin, Austin." Instead of insisting with him any further, she drags him to her car and has him stand by while she fishes a small bag from inside. By now, most of the gymnasts have left; in fact, he hasn't seen anyone come out of the Rock in a few minutes. Even the paparazzi don't seem to be around today. "Okay, you can sit on my hood so you're not so much taller than me." He complies, watching with amusement when she examines his cheek with studious intensity. Kaylie is reluctant to be near him, he can see it written on her worried features, but nonetheless she does inch closer to him until she's standing between his legs, eye-to-eye with him. "I'm sorry if this hurts," she murmurs, then he feels her warm fingers rub against his sensitive cheek. He finds it hard not to stare into her distracted eyes. "I'm just applying some concealer. It'll cover it up."

"Did you put any of that on that hickey?"

His question gets a small chuckle out of her. "No; make-up comes off with sweat." She pauses and smiles. "So do band-aids, apparently, but I didn't think of that at the time."

The memory of what took place inside their agent's trailer replays in his mind, and he lets out a good-natured laugh."I'm never gonna forget the look on MJ's face when the band-aid fell off."

Kaylie is smiling too, although still concentrated on his cheek. Her touch is very distracting, yes, but having her this close to him again is worth it. "How did she look? I didn't catch her reaction."

"Like she was seeing you grow a second head."

Her subsequent laugh is light, carefree and contagious; he resists the urge to reach out and touch her.

"I'm really sorry about hurting your cheek, though. I don't think my forehead looks as bad as your cheek does."

"That's okay," he assures her easily. A sudden breeze carries her flowery scent into his senses and he almost forgets that she's applying make-up on him and needs him to stand still—all he wants is to shake his head clear. What was he saying again? "Um, it doesn't hurt." His words are rendered meaningless when she presses a little too hard onto his cheek and he winces. Before she can apologize, like he knows she will, he cuts her off. "It's okay, it didn't hurt that much." Then he figures he might as well make a joke about all of this so she'll go back to laughing and smiling and making his heart sink down to his stomach. "And besides, I'm getting used to your violent tendencies."

"I'm not violent," Kaylie protests in a mumble. She's finished her task and is closing the tube of make-up in her hands, simultaneously studying his cheek from side to side.

"Yeah, you are."

"How am I violent?"

Is it wrong that he gets a thrill out of arguing with her? "Think about that first time you kissed me, in front of Payson's house," he instructs with a snort. "And then think about last night. See a pattern emerging?"

She pauses, now looking into his eyes instead of his cheek. Her gaze doesn't waver, but doesn't intimidate him either. He's not used to being at eye-level with her—it's kind of breathtaking.

"Fine, I might have been... less than gentle," Kaylie admits grudgingly. "But you're infuriating sometimes."

"That's okay," he tells her, and notices, too late, that he's laid a hand on her hip. He really needs to pull that hand away, but it feels like it's glued to the spot. Also, she doesn't seem to have noticed it's there. "I'll start wearing protective gear around you."

She smiles at his teasing. "You know, for a guy this tall and tough, you're awfully delicate."

"I'm not delicate," he defends, and all the times he's wanted to run away from Kaylie seem ridiculous in his mind. Why would he ever be far from her? "You just don't know how to be gentle."

The glint in her eye changes, and he notices it the moment it occurs, like a stirring in the air. "Can I show you something?"

He swallows hard, and there's a tremor that makes its way from his chest to his hands and his toes. Kaylie is up to something. "Show me what?"

"That I can be gentle."

It's great that he's sitting down. If he weren't sitting down, he'd be falling over when Kaylie leans forward and brushes her lips against his. He'd be almost fainting when her hand touches his uninjured cheek. He wouldn't be having the leverage and the angle to pull her closer and keep her there close to him, so she won't back way and leave him to fight everything by himself.

She is gentle. And he decides he can be gentle, too. In contrast to their motions yesterday, there are no bruises, no bites, no slaps. He feels a strange sort of serenity, breathing in sync with her, and it's just pleasant to be able to touch her face without double-guessing himself.

He's never going to forget her birthday. She can always pick whatever movie she wants. He'll give her gifts that make her smile, things she likes. He's going to be great to her; he's going to be great.

"I have an idea," he whispers against her lips, regretting voicing his thoughts when she pulls back to face him. "We should really commit to this. Like, really act like we're together, for those two months we still have to do this for."

Kaylie looks at him for a moment, before licking her lips and resting her hands on his shoulders. "I would like that. I would like to fight less. I would like for us to be better friends."

"Okay, then," he agrees with a relieved nod. The words echo strangely in his head, and seem laden with a foreign, unidentifiable feeling: "you're my girlfriend now."

She's hesitating; it's a brief flash that darkens her eyes just a bit before the brightness of her smile returns in full force. "Right. I'm your girlfriend."


	13. Boiling point

**A/N:** Thanks for your patience, guys. Your support has been an awesome incentive! I'm convinced that I have the best readers ever, and I can't thank you enough for your kind words. As a note on this chapter, all of this happens in a single day. It's a super busy chapter, and so much happens in it that I almost decided to split it into two parts. As it is, it's the longest chapter I've put up so far. Please enjoy, and let me know your thoughts :)

CHAPTER 13: Boiling point

**Monday:**

_"I have an idea," he whispers against her lips, regretting voicing his thoughts when she pulls back to face him. "We should really commit to this. Like, really act like we're together, for those two months we still have to do this for."_

_Kaylie looks at him for a moment, before licking her lips and resting her hands on his shoulders. "I would like that. I would like to fight less. I would like for us to be better friends."_

_"Okay, then," he agrees with a relieved nod. The words echo strangely in his head, and seem laden with a foreign, unidentifiable feeling: "you're my girlfriend now."_

_She's hesitating; it's a brief flash that darkens her eyes just a bit before the brightness of her smile returns in full force. "Right. I'm your girlfriend."_

**Wednesday:**

"Don't even think about touching that smoothie," Austin warns after an activation of his innate older-brother radar lets him know when his sister is up to something. Sure enough, when he turns around to face Samantha in his kitchen, he finds her coyly laying a thin index finger on a tall glass filled with a thick, orange liquid. "Hands off, smoothie thief. That's for Kaylie."

Samantha complies, but shoots him a thoroughly annoyed look. "God. So whipped."

He scoffs, moderately insulted. He'd love nothing more than to argue but it's already 6am and he's supposed to be on Kaylie's lawn, stretching with her before their morning run.

"I guess I'll just have to starve while mom doesn't come back from the market, and all because my brother only cares about his girlfriend."

"And the Oscar for best dramatic performance goes to...?" he jokes with a laugh, while tying his shoes and then glancing at Samantha's smiling face. "That smoothie better be exactly as it is when I come back," he advises seriously, then dashes to his front door just in time to catch Kaylie stepping out of her porch.

"You're late. Getting your beauty sleep?" she asks wryly while he makes his way to her.

"Don't need it." He's cocky on purpose, relishing her good-natured eyeroll, liking it that they're now so close that she has to crane her neck to stare him in the eye. "Ready to have your ass kicked, Cruz?" Leaning towards her slowly, he plants a soft kiss on her lips before she has a chance to give him one of her smart retorts.

But when he parts, she's still smirking and he knows he's not getting away with his taunt. "I love when you're delusional," she whispers, then leans up enough that he halts his breathing, slightly mesmerized by the expectant ache he always gets when she's this close. Instead, he feels Kaylie's lips on his cheek, warm and soft, and he can only exhale when she pulls back and watches him, smiling a bit.

These are the moments when it feels really, really real.

"You'll get a real one if you beat my time, hot shot."

During their run, Austin ponders on the most recent events. Two days ago, he and Kaylie agreed to approach their whole fake-dating operation differently—their problems seemed to have been caused by the fact that they always had to turn their act on and off. Now, by never quite turning it off, their disagreements seemed to have mostly dissipated. And they are a lot closer. One night, they slept late because they were watching a Mexican telenovela in their respective houses while Kaylie texted him translations of the dialogue and the general plot points ("you can tell that guy is the villain because of his mustache, see?"). In another instance, he fixed Mrs. Cruz's car while describing the Olympic Village to a fascinated Kaylie. And he had the "privilege" yesterday of helping Kaylie shop for new leotards ("of course I need new leotards! The ones I have are last season's!").

Still, it's only the second day of this new phase, and they have had their weird moments.

Like when he found out about Carter.

"_What's up with you and Lauren Tanner? You guys are always bitching at each other."_

"_You mean she's always bitching at me. It's your fault, by the way. She doesn't like you, doesn't think we'll last, that we're bad for each other, etc. And the funny part is that I should be the one disapproving of her boyfriend, since he's my ex and all. Here, take some cereal."_

"_Wait. What?"_

"_Take some cereal."_

"_No, not that. Lauren's boyfriend is Carter Anderson."_

"_Yes. What about it?"_

"_He's your ex?"_

"_You didn't know?"_

"_How would I know? You never told me!"_

"_You've been here for two weeks; I thought someone would have told you. And besides, I thought you and Carter were friends."_

"_Right, yes, because we are BFFs. He must have forgotten to mention it when we were doing our hair and nails together last week at the Boulder Supercuts."_

Or when he found out Kaylie's brother is Leo Cruz.

"_And that's a picture of when I won my first Nationals."_

"_What about the picture beside it?"_

"_Oh, that one... that's from a long time ago. As you can see, I got silver. The world's biggest jackass __won gold that year."_

"_Really. You think that guy with the gold is a jackass?"_

"_He is. You're lucky you've never met him. Real piece of work."_

"_I have met him, as a matter of fact."_

"_You have?"_

"_Yeah. I know him really well, actually. Try to remember what that guy's last name is."_

"_Oh. OH. Holy shit."_

Overall, however, he can't complain. Kaylie is... perfect. Being around her at the gym, being her neighbor, texting her in the early morning to joke about his horrible hairstyle and her awful taste in music—all of that is perfect, and it's been hard to wrap his head around the idea of fake-dating her instead of real-dating her. But it's exactly because things are so good that he doesn't want to change them. This is life now—he's her "boyfriend," he gets to train with her, kiss her, make fun of her—and he has no qualms about admitting that life has never been better.

Except, of course, when once again she beats him at their morning jog competition; at the last mile, they're supposed to race back to her house, but every morning since they've begun this practice, Kaylie has proven to be at least part race horse, thoroughly defeating him with infuriating ease.

When he finally steps onto her lawn, she's crossing her arms and watching him with smug satisfaction. "That was almost not pathetic," she says cockily. "I only had to wait ten minutes for you to round the corner."

"You're way too fast. You're probably cheating somewhere," he pants, trying to point an accusatory finger at a smiling Kaylie, but soon giving up in favor of placing his hands on his knees in order to better catch his breath.

"What a sore loser," is Kaylie's reply as she openly laughs at his exhausted, hunched over frame. "I guess my winning streak remains unbeaten."

His eyes focus on her smirk and he narrows his eyes, almost resenting how composed she is while he's falling apart from exhaustion. Only a slight sheen of perspiration on her forehead betrays that she was performing any physical activity at all.

"You look a little worn out there, Tucker," she teases, laughter dying down into a smile. "I'll have to take it easy on you next time."

"Don't get cocky, Cruz," he breathes out, straightening and using a hand to brush his forehead free of sweat. "I'm on to your cheating." Vaguely revolted, her eyes follow the hand that now has the sweat from his forehead as he lowers it to his side, amused. "Don't like my manly sweat?" Before she can reply, he extends it to her and she laughs, scrunching her face and slapping his arm away. The sound of her laugh makes his heart jump a little.

"Eew, Austin." It's the sight of her adorable, disgusted wince that spurs him to lunge for her and wrap her inside his strong—and very sweaty—arms. Kaylie yelps as she makes futile attempts to free herself. "Eww, gross! Austin!" One of his hands tickles her ribs and she laughs breathlessly, resisting his embrace while simultaneously attempting (and failing) to tickle him, too. "Hahaha—let me go—hahaha!"

It's during their tickling match that he catches sight of his mother driving the station wagon into the driveway. He continues to grin while he's watching Kaylie's flustered figure finally freed from his arms, and he can only laugh with amusement when she smacks his chest and accuses him of messing up her hair.

"Morning, mom," he greets his mother easily, suddenly remembering that he's hungry. All his attention went to making Kaylie's protein drink.

"Hi, Mrs. Tucker," Kaylie follows suit, still smoothing down her hair. "Do you need any help unloading your car?" she asks when they see her open a trunk filled with groceries.

His mother raises an eyebrow when she turns to look at them and her eyes sweep their unkempt attire, but she nonetheless smiles pleasantly and nods. "That would be nice, Kaylie. Are you having breakfast with us before you're off to the gym?"

Austin immediately responds, "yes, she is. I made you something," he explains when Kaylie frowns with confusion. "A special smoothie to help you with the soreness from yesterday."

"Oh." Kaylie turns to his mother with an abashed smile. "I guess I am, ma'am."

By her approving wink, Austin knows he's done right by his mother's book, and the satisfaction he derives from that is enough to send a surge of happiness through his body.

* * *

><p>"You're terrible at this," she hears Austin whispering to her while he passes her by, carrying a large cardboard box with Mr. Tucker. Kaylie wants to swing a hand his way to slap him, but she's dicing fruits with Mrs. Tucker so that's out the question. Instead, she gives him an annoyed look that's quickly replaced by a laugh when he almost trips over a hose in the backyard.<p>

"Are you finished, dear?" Mrs. Tucker's question brings her back to the kitchen, and she smiles at the older woman, nodding quickly in reply. "Here, help me mix this."

Kaylie complies, swallowing back a tiny amount of apprehension as she allows Mrs. Tucker to demonstrate the next step in baking a fruit pie. They have about an hour left before they're due in the gym, and Kaylie still needs to shower and change after their morning run, but something in her that she can't quite identify made her want to stick around the Tucker residence longer, and spend time with a family so different from her own while they prepare a barbecue for tomorrow, when they'll be departing on a journey back to their home.

"Okay, now you try."

Kaylie wants to decline her request; she wants to shake her head and tell Mrs. Tucker that she's never cooked or baked in her life, and that her mother taught her a lot, but not this. She wants to ask her why she's so warm and open-hearted, why her husband is always quiet but always supportive, and why her daughter, who seemed so sullen and moody before, is in reality so talkative and just plain nice.

"Mrs. Tucker, I'm no good at this," she mumbles instead, almost as nervous about the ladle she's been handed as she is whenever she has to attempt a new maneuver in gymnastics. Mixing around some fruit is supposed to be easy, but she's terrified that she'll mess it up.

"Just try it," Mrs. Tucker encourages. "I'm sure you'll see how easy it is."

Kaylie knows how to recognize a situation in which arguing won't do any good, and this is one of those situations. Taking only another second to hesitate, she mimics Mrs. Tucker's movement in the bowl of jellied fruits.

"Austin must be good in the kitchen, having a great cook like you for a mother, ma'am," she comments politely, wanting to fill the silence and hear Mrs. Tucker's strangely comforting voice again.

"Oh, dear, no… Austin never steps in the kitchen," she chuckles. There's a pause in which she seems to be studying Kaylie with a faint smile. "Except this morning, to make you breakfast."

Kaylie is concentrated on the ever-thickening jelly, and doesn't examine Mrs. Tucker's distant tone before she's already replying, "I'm sure he always makes breakfast for his girlfriends." She glances up, intending to smile quickly then turn back to her task, but her gaze stays glued to Mrs. Tucker instead, caught up in the smiling eyes that resemble Austin's so much. Kaylie's hands freeze over the bowl.

"No…" A small sigh, then another smile. "You're the only one he's ever done that for."

Abruptly, Kaylie feels a large lump overcome her throat, brought on by rapid panic, and the terrible, belated realization that Mrs. Tucker thinks this is real. Everyone thinks her relationship with Austin is real; everyone thinks there are deep, genuine feelings binding them together, and that they're good to each other, and that they're making each other better. It robs the breath from her lungs, and she turns back to the bowl and her ladle before the sight of Mrs. Tucker's hopeful gaze makes everything worse, and harder to manage.

It doesn't matter that she wants everything to be real—and right now, it's an aching, pulsing wish—it doesn't make it real. This is still an act.

Kaylie buries the thought away, to forget it completely and keep herself together, and strains to give Mrs. Tucker a smile. "Right. Well, I _better_ be the only one."

On her way into the gym later, Kaylie crosses path with a clearly irritated Kelly Parker. Somewhere in the back of her head, it occurs to her that this girl is Austin's friend. This girl, who's every female gymnast's nightmare, has a place in Austin's life, and for reasons Kaylie can't fathom. It's that curiosity that trumps her sense of self-preservation as she summons every ounce of bravery in her body and approaches her gingerly. "Hey... Parker."

Wow, that was stupid. All that courage just so she could stammer and look like a complete dumbass in front of a girl who feeds off others' insecurities and humiliates people for sport.

Kelly surveys her with her usual predatory interest, but then, shockingly, seems to relax into an indifferent smile. "Did you hear that Sasha is going to have you and Tessa Montgomery paired up tomorrow for practice?"

She's momentarily stunned by Kelly's conversation; it's so unusual to witness normal behavior from the girl. "Um, yes. I heard about that."

"I'm trying to get Sasha to switch me and her. Pitting you against her on floors would be like putting a Ferrari and a bus to race on the same track."

If she was surprised before, now Kaylie is downright shocked. "That sounded like a compliment."

Kelly huffs impatiently, halting at the locker room entrance to shake her head at Kaylie. "Would you like me to insult you so the world can be right-side up again?"

"Oh. No, thanks," Kaylie denies firmly, but decides to add quickly, "it's just weird to see you being nice. You're not like people think."

With a nonchalant shrug, Kelly resumes her walk to the locker room, but does turn around for a second, just long enough to tell Kaylie simply, "when I'm not busy being a one-dimensional spawn of the devil who tortures nuns and eats babies, I'm usually nice."

Then, she's disappeared and Kaylie is wondering whether she's begun to hallucinate things.

* * *

><p>Kelly Parker tries not to think about Kaylie and Austin—she swears that she does—but something about the two of them standing next to each other at the chalk bowl between the uneven bars and the men's bars makes her pause, and her thoughts start to run in full steam before she's able to rein them all in.<p>

These two shouldn't have made sense. On paper—the virgin and the boy-slut—these two would practically repel one another. And yet, here they are for the whole world to see... very clearly not repelling one another.

To Kelly, one of the real issues here is that she's unable to look at Kaylie without immediately asking herself "why her?" and checking off a list of things that are just wrong about this girl. She's too nice—and that's terrible because her brand of nice is that genuine, heartfelt one that leaves her wide open to disappointment and hurt. Which takes her to the next check: she's dumb. God almighty, Kaylie Cruz is an idiot. For real; Kelly isn't advocating outright scheming, but a little foresight and planning would really help Kaylie do smarter things, like notice (before she got cheated on) that Carter Anderson will always, always want the greener grass, and realize that Lauren Tanner is insane, and a bitch.

All that brings her to Kaylie's relationship with Austin. She can see the shift now on the way they interact; it used to be very obviously awkward, and now it's not. It looked stilted and hesitant before, and now it doesn't. This means they adjusted to each other, instead of running away after facing all their differences. It's not what Kelly expected, from either one. Austin was supposed to end up with a modelesque blond with nary a thought in her head, and Kaylie with some harmless, sweet boy who would look like a non-cheating Carter Anderson. They're not each other's types; they shouldn't have lasted this long without imploding. But no—they're together. And by all accounts, they work.

Kaylie finally moves on to the vault—where she's practically untouchable nowadays—and Kelly sends every nearby girl a territorial, bitchy glare meant to lay down her claim that she'll be using the apparatus next. It works, of course, and she approaches the chalk bowl beside which Austin still stands. She tightens her hand guards, noticing that his attention is still on Kaylie, and he's wearing a nauseatingly charming look of confusion.

"Stop staring at her, Austin; geez," she murmurs, then smiles when he shifts his eyes to her. That's when she spots something in his gaze, something unrecognizable that puzzles her.

"Hey, I have to ask you something," he says quietly, frowning with very clear distress and worry. "I need your help; something's going on and maybe I need to see the psych or something."

"What's going on?" Kelly inquires, curiosity (and concern) genuinely piqued.

Austin swallows hard, and takes a step closer to her. When he speaks up, his voice is hushed and she can only barely make out his words. "Well, don't tell anyone this, because I don't want the psych hunting me down and keeping me from training, okay? You're the only person I'm talking about this to." Kelly nods quickly, and holds her breath expectantly. "Is it... _normal_... to think about someone all the time?"

She can't help it—her jaw slackens a bit. "What?"

"I mean, I think about Kaylie _all the time_. Really; she's constantly on my mind, and I don't know how to turn it off." Bless his heart, Austin seems truly, deeply baffled. "I don't even have to be near her! I think it's getting out of hand," he says fervently, sighing and shaking his head. Then he lifts his pleading, confused eyes to her and it's all she can do not to burst out laughing. "If you tell me I need to go see the psych for it, I will."

"Austin..." Kelly doesn't even know how to begin; she's still fighting the urge to laugh, and has to purse her lips when a chuckle almost escapes her. "Listen... this is your girlfriend we're talking about. So, you going all brain dead over her is expected." She tries to infuse her words with as much sympathy and understanding as she can, shoving her naturally bitchy side to the back of her mind. "I know she's your first girlfriend and all, so you're like, practically a virgin again, but Kaylie isn't that awful." She almost can't believe what she's saying, but plows on, despite noticing that Austin looks like he wants to interrupt her and tell her that she's got it all wrong. "You'll be fine. If she was going to dump your ass for being a bad boyfriend, she would have done it already. Okay? So relax."

Austin shakes his head again, and Kelly can swear she hears him utter under his breath, "you don't understand... different..."

God. Two weeks dating Kaylie Cruz and the poor boy has already lost his mind.

* * *

><p>Later that day, Sasha gathers all the gymnasts at the main area, pausing everyone's training in order to conduct a meeting. Kaylie had been practicing a new skill on her vault, and even though her hands are aching with the recent strain, her entire body is in fact complaining, and very loudly at that. Yesterday she allowed Austin to convince her to increase her reps during their usual workout; he's devised a unique combination of sets to increase her muscle mass, but because they've only just begun to train together, her muscles are still familiarizing themselves with increased weights and reps, and consequently, she feels aches in muscles that she didn't even know existed. The smoothie he made her this morning, reinforced with protein supplements meant to facilitate muscle-healing, hasn't helped her very much. To make matters worse, they had to conduct their workout later at night than usual (so her mother would already be asleep) and at his house (to utilize his heavier weights). Her parents will skin her alive if they find out that she's sneaking off to his house at night to work out outside of her usual regimen.<p>

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Austin and the other boys exiting the annex and approaching the group of herded gymnasts. Once Austin finds her amid the crowd, he makes his way to her and gives her a small smile. She can tell he wants to make a comment—about her pink leotard, her messy hair, or just a general taunt of the way she embarrassed herself in front of his mother by trying to cook something edible this morning—but Sasha's watchful gaze is an effective deterrent.

Once everyone seems to have been summoned and an appropriate silence has settled on the gym, Sasha trades a nod of agreement with Summer and begins to explain, "many of you have attended Foothill, Boulder's summer gymnastics camp. In preparation for a particularly busy year, the camp's administration has offered our gymnasts the opportunity to partake in their renowned leadership program. Gymnasts expressing interest in participating in this program will be mentoring a small group of junior athletes in the camp for a week. Your participation is encouraged, but not mandatory. Our director, Ms. Van Horne, will be handling the paperwork for those that wish to be a part of this program. You will be excused from training for the duration of your stay at Foothills," and at this, Kaylie notices, every surrounding gymnast widens their eyes excitedly, "but you are expected to have kept up with your conditioning upon your return."

At the conclusion of his briefing, most gymnasts scatter back into their apparatuses—including Austin, after giving her hand a small squeeze—but Kaylie remains where she stood, and turns to Payson beside her. "What do you think?"

"Sounds good, right?" Payson shrugs, confirming Kaylie's expectation that of course—OF COURSE—Payson would jump at the opportunity to partake in a prestigious training program. Most gymnasts can only hope for two careers once they're past their prime; coaching and endorsements. Coaching is the more appealing option for most.

"I'm going," Kaylie hears from behind her, and a small fear seizes her heart abruptly at the realization that Lauren is nearby, possibly addressing her. She feels like she should have prepared herself for this moment, for the moment when at last they'd bury the hatchet and let their friendship come to light once again. Lauren makes her way around to stand beside Payson and in front of her, and she holds her breath, not quite sure of what to say. "Anything to get a break from here," Lauren continues haughtily, and Kaylie licks her lips excitedly, because this is it—she'll make a funny comment, they'll laugh together, and everything will go back to normal. "By the way, your boyfriend is an idiot. So yeah—he can't go."

Just like that, Kaylie's excitement evaporates, much like a deflating balloon. She makes a small effort to keep her composure the same, to maintain an impartial expression, but is certain that it isn't working.

"Why?"

Payson opens her mouth, no doubt to spread some pacifying words before this escalates into another argument, but Lauren is quicker at the trigger. "I just told you why. Because he's an idiot."

Kaylie's temper flares so dangerously that she can feel the heat making its way through her veins. "Well, he's _my_ idiot, and he's going."

At this time, Payson does react faster than everyone else, stating evenly, "Kaylie, I need to talk to you." And in the blink of an eye, she's pushing Kaylie away from Lauren and in the direction of the vault. "Don't mind Lauren," she urges wearily while examining Kaylie's aggravated glare. "You don't know this, but her bitchiness back there didn't really have to do with you and Austin."

"What was it about then?" Kaylie asks impatiently, throwing her arms into the air with frustration.

"Kelly Parker."

Her reply gives Kaylie pause. Mostly because it makes no sense.

"What are you talking about?"

"This offer was made to Rock gymnasts. That means us four, mainly," Payson explains in a hushed murmur. "Us two, Lauren, and Emily. Lauren is worried that they'll be really vague about their invitation and that will mean that Kelly Parker can go. Maybe you haven't noticed, but Lauren and Kelly have been at each others' throats all week."

"I still don't get it. What does Austin going have to do with this?"

Payson sighs, closing her eyes momentarily as though fighting a headache. "If Austin goes, then that means all the other new gymnasts can go, including Kelly Parker."

She blinks, twice, then once more before she decides that she needs to register a real reaction, or at least respond in some normal way. "Oh. Right. That makes sense." Then, because her brain isn't working at its finest pace, she blurts out, "Kelly Parker is nice."

Now it's Payson's turn to blink and stare, then narrow her eyes as though checking Kaylie for superficial signs of a fever. "What?"

"I mean, she's not that bad," Kaylie explains hurriedly, unconvincing even to her own ears. "She's... not that horrible."

"Did you hit your head during your dismount?"

Kaylie is thinking up an appropriate response to her friend's horrified question, when suddenly, Sasha's voice is heard through the gym's speakers, calling both she and Austin to his office.

"We'll continue this later," Payson mumbles, still shaking her head while she walks away.

A few seconds later, Austin has joined her and they make their way to the coach's office. Kaylie can't quite hide her nerves, and just before they step in, Austin whispers to her, "everything okay?"

"No, I'll tell you later," she whispers back, then looks up to face their coach expectantly.

"I need to talk to you two..." he trails off when a phone starts to ring from the adjoining office. "Hold on a minute." Sasha treads to the office next door and Kaylie relaxes against the closed door behind her.

"Okay, tell me what's wrong while he's gone," Austin requests as he turns to her.

"It's not important... just Lauren being Lauren." The mere mention of her name makes Kaylie flush with irritation. "Sometimes I can't wait till things are normal again."

"Well, _you_ can go back to being normal once all this is over," he comments idly, studying his calloused palms. "I can't. I can't and I won't go back to being who I was before you."

She takes a deep breath then, because the air almost gets stuck in her throat and it won't do her any good to show the world that Austin can have this effect on her. And that's the whole problem—that he can affect her like this. That even his careless, offhand comments in moments of distraction can make her heart seize, almost like things are real, when they're not.

He notices her silence. "You okay? Something bothering you?"

Kaylie decides to change the subject, interjecting smoothly, "you know what's bothering me? My whole body. All because of your damn workout plan." She watches Austin lean back against Sasha's table, eyes twinkling with that infuriatingly cute, amused smirk he tends to wear whenever she's annoyed with him. She just wants it to feel like friendship again, and nothing more. "My back is killing me."

And true to form, Austin eases into this conversation immediately. "You're still coming over tonight, though, right?"

* * *

><p>Payson is lifting her hands, preparing to leap onto the lower bar of her apparatus, when suddenly, Kaylie's voice rings through the gym via Sasha's speaker.<p>

_"My back is killing me."_

_"You're still coming over tonight, though, right?"_

_"No, Austin, I just told you that I'm still sore from last night." _

Oh my God. They're talking about...

Payson's arms drop to her sides with instant, blood-curling panic.

_"It wasn't that rough, Kaylie."_

_"Easy for you to say. You're a guy. It's not the same. You were pretty rough on me."_

_"Fine, fine. I'll pace things tonight. How do you want to meet up?"_

Payson has to make an enormous effort to unfreeze her horror-stricken body in order to start walking towards Sasha's office, mindful of the scarily quiet gym, filled with wide-eyed gymnasts staring at the glass walls that allow them a good view of Kaylie and Austin, deep in conversation.

_"We almost got caught, Austin. And if my parents find out about last night—"_

_"Relax, Cruz. It's almost like you're new at this."_

_"Contrary to what you believe, I'm not very experienced at lying and sneaking around."_

Once she's climbing the stairs that lead to the office, a burst of panicked energy sends Payson dashing to the door. She doesn't bother knocking; she steps in and her eyes fix on Austin's casual lean against the speaker's activation button on Sasha's desk.

She ignores Kaylie and Austin's surprise and confusion, and breathlessly instructs, "Austin, get off the desk."

"Something wrong?" Sasha makes his presence known, emerging from the office beside his own. "Payson?"

Swallowing hard and imagining all the looks Kaylie and Austin will receive once they rejoin the rest of the gym, Payson shakes her head slowly. She was almost, almost able to save her best friend from humiliation. But she wasn't quick enough. And now every gymnast at the Rock knows Kaylie and Austin have rough sex.

Crap.

"No, I'll be on my way," she says faintly, dodging Kaylie's puzzled gaze and exiting the office. The gym is silent for only a single second. Then, a madness of whispers and murmurs erupts.

Yeah, this will definitely be a problem.

* * *

><p>"You two will be our frontrunners in the leadership program at Foothills," Sasha tells them seriously, which makes Austin raise his eyebrows and the turns to check whether she's having the same reaction. She isn't—Kaylie is nodding with understanding, and that only deepens his frown. "As the highest-ranking gymnasts in the Rock, you two are of particular interest to Foothills, understandably. With the increased attention, however, I fully expect you two to be on your best behavior. That means… professionalism, and maturity. Especially in face of your audience—small children and young teenagers."<p>

In his peripheral vision, he sees Kaylie purse her lips with a blush.

"Is that clear?" For all the charm Sasha usually displays, he seems awfully dry now.

Austin knows that finally he's on the same page with Kaylie when they both nod their agreements. But he's not sure why, exactly, Sasha thinks he needs to tell them to be professional during their stay at the gymnastics camp—he and Kaylie have professionalism aplenty. When have they ever done anything inappropriate? There's nothing to worry about.

He is filled with worry a few hours later, however. For some reason, ever since he and Kaylie exited Sasha's office, a lot of people have been staring. Austin thought most of the whispering and nudging had dissipated after he and Kaylie made it through a week of dating and their coupledom became old news, but right now interest in them seems to have been sparked once again. It almost distracts him when he's powdering his hand braces in preparation for his even bars practice, the way so many people seem to be watching him, and indiscreetly talking about him. He wonders if Kaylie is being subjected to the same scrutiny, and whether all this fuss is due to Foothills's interest in them. He hears the loud smack from one of Kaylie's landings on floors, and can't help a smile; she's so, so good at what she does.

He meets her for lunch later, and as they sit down together at a nearby park, he watches the furrow in Kaylie's brow, and slides closer to her on their shared bench.

"Your food isn't good, or what?" he asks her.

"No, that's not it…" Her soft murmur lets him know she's deep in thought, and when she turns to look at him, he sees in her face that something is indeed bothering her. "Did you notice a lot of people at the gym staring at us?"

"Yeah!" he agrees, glad that she detected it too. "What was that about?"

"No idea," she answers distractedly, then extends a spoonful of yogurt to him. "Try this." He eats the yogurt off her spoon and gives her an approving hum. "Good, right? I'm trying out this new brand they want me to do a commercial for."

"My mom will probably like this yogurt. And even if she doesn't, she'll buy it because you're endorsing it." The thought of his mother being such a big Kaylie Cruz fan is extremely amusing. "She really likes you."

He expects Kaylie to smile at his remark, or nod. Instead, she looks to the side and sighs quietly. He's about to inquire on her latest mood, when she comments in a low, reluctant voice, "it's because of your mother, isn't it, that you said you can't go back to being who you were." A sudden speeding of his pulse makes him decide he'd rather focus on her voice, and on her hair and bright eyes, than on what she's actually saying, because Kaylie isn't supposed to know things like this; she's not supposed to be so deep inside his heart and mind. "She thinks I changed you. And this morning, when she was being so nice to me, I wanted to stop her, because I haven't done any of that," she pauses and he almost begs her to shut up and just redirect the conversation to another place, a harmless place. "Because you're already great, and you didn't need me to make you better."

A powerful wave of emotion sweeps him, and it makes his mouth dry, and his heart slow down, and his mind pleasantly empty.

He already texts Kaylie every night.

He already calls Kaylie every day.

He already spends every waking hour with her.

He already cooks for her, and takes a look at her car when the oil is running low.

He already devised a calendar of events for them to share, so they can go together to everything.

He already knows what kind of jokes will make her laugh, and which will make her slap his arm with disapproval.

He already helps her with her gymnastics, and he accepts her help, too.

He already kisses her and holds her hand.

And he can't really conjure in his mind a future in which he does none of these things.

"Hello, you two." MJ's voice, reverberating from behind him, startles him so severely that he almost falls off his seat; he would have, if Kaylie hadn't grabbed his hand to steady him. "Are you all right, Austin?" Of course, now she's concerned. The agent didn't have the decency of telling them she was going to drop in on their lunch, unannounced.

"I'm fine."

"How did you know we were here?" he asks MJ, watching her sit down across from them.

"Oh, I let her know," Kaylie explains easily, and now Austin knows that he was irritated with the agent for reasons that weren't quite true. "You said you had something important to tell us?"

"Yes; as a matter of fact, I do." MJ's olive skin is accentuated in the bright light, just a tinge darker than Kaylie's. Austin's eyes sweep Kaylie's features, as they usually do when she's bathed in sunlight, eyes sparkling and an everpresent blush. (There's a reason all the guys at the Rock have had a crush on her at one time or another.) "I have great news."

He wonders suddenly whether all these signs he's been noticing lately are pointing somewhere. Kelly telling him that the feelings that boyfriends have for their girlfriends are responsible for Kaylie being such a fixture in his thoughts. His constant wish to keep Kaylie happy, and keep her close. And the clear fact that his life's become so much better once she entered it.

"A recent market survey has revealed that our operation has proven extremely effective."

If Kaylie feels the same way about him—and at this, he feels a tiny ache in his chest make itself noticed—then maybe... something really is going on.

"Kaylie, your exposure to the national media has driven your market value to unexpected heights. I've already scheduled an appointment with your parents in order to negotiate some of the many deals you have been offered."

But what could be going on? There's no possible way that there are genuine romantic feelings between them. He knows what those are like, and this isn't it. He's liked girls before, and from what he knows, the excitement and affection fade rather quickly, while a general sense of purposelessness takes root. This thing with Kaylie is nothing like that. He can compare Kaylie to all the women he's dated, and there's no common thread. He can compare her to his only other female friend, Kelly Parker, and find no similarities there either, because whatever he feels for Kaylie is an ocean that makes his friendship with Kelly seem like a very small river. He understands nothing of this. He wonders if he should ask Kaylie about it.

"Austin, the consulting firm I've contacted has evaluated some recent responses to your scandal last month, and it seems that due to your relationship with Kaylie, your blunder has taken a milder form in the public conscience; so much so, that it's on its way to being completely forgotten."

Should he ask her what she feels? Should he tell her of his current state of confusion? Does Kaylie wish, too, that things were real after all?

"That's why I've come to the conclusion that the operation can be now terminated, as it has served its purpose—even better than predicted, of course, which is why the two months originally planned will not be necessary for its duration. This Friday, I will make the announcement to the media. I will further brief you on your post-break-up demeanor, but for now, gradually decrease your interactions."

Because he does, sometimes, wish things were real. Imagine that—Kaylie and him, actually dating. Wouldn't it be perfect if a real relationship between them was like the fake one they've been carrying on?

"Austin?" He finally drags his attention back to the agent, and a quick shift of his eyes to the side reveal that Kaylie seems slightly stunned, and is maybe avoiding his gaze. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes, of course," Austin answers easily, not wanting to hear another lecture from MJ on why he should become a better listener.

"Good. Friday it is, then."

Abruptly, Kaylie stands from the bench and clears her throat. It doesn't take any additional clues for him to deduce that she's flustered. "I have to go. I'm... going back early to the gym. Long day, you know."

"Okay, I'll go with you," he hurries to offer, but Kaylie shakes her head immediately, and with such urgency that he frowns.

"No! I mean, I'm good. You can—you should enjoy the rest of your lunch." With that, she gives them a last smile, then turns smoothly to the road and begins her walk to the Rock.

"You two developed quite a bond," MJ comments in the offhand way he's only heard her use a few times. "I'll make sure to include in my announcement that your break-up was amicable, so you two can continue to appear to be friends. Not to the degree that you have in the past, of course, but it will still give you room to accommodate a friendship."

And then, it sinks in, everything MJ was spouting off while he was immersed in his own musings. He understands.

It's a split second, like a gunshot, or an atomic bomb leveling his brain. It's like a quick rush of blood to his head, a fast-settling tremor in his chest, and the awareness that things are about to change, when they can't change; they can't go back to the way they were, not when he just got used to things, not when he's started to like who he is now.

"I'll forward a draft of the announcement on your split with Kaylie tomorrow morning, to both of you. Contact me if any questions occur to you later."


	14. 3 Hours

A/N: Thanks for the patience. Please enjoy, and review to let me know your thoughts!

**CHAPTER 14: 3 HOURS**

She falls. Again, and again, and again. The vault dismount she had managed to perfect just before lunch is a mess now; her timing is off, she can't seem to tuck in her arms close enough to her chest, and her hand placement on the vault pad is never where it should be.

After a particularly bad fall almost injures her knee, Kaylie limps to the physical therapy room, intending to ice it before it swells and keeps her from training later in the day. It's only 2pm—she has a lot of training left to do. The Rock's physical therapy doctor isn't in, so Kaylie takes the liberty of fishing out an ice pack from the office's freezer, and making herself comfortable on a nearby gurney. Gingerly, she places the ice pack on her knee; the blast of cold in her skin makes her inhale quickly, but after a suffering wince she's able to move past the discomfort, concentrating instead of picking apart each of her movements in that vault skill in order to figure out what she's messing up so consistently.

The office is silent; distantly, she can hear the occasional slapping sound coming from the floor mats as someone lands a tumble. If she really closes her eyes, squeezing them shut, she can almost hear her own heartbeats.

"_That's why I've come to the conclusion that the operation can be now terminated, as it has served its purpose..."_

But after a second or two, all she hears is Austin's name, pounding in her chest. _AustinAustin, AustinAustin, AustinAustin_...

Inwardly, she groans. This is so, so wrong.

Does she... like Austin? Is she falling for that idiot she's been pretending to date? When did the line between reality and acting become so blurry—or downright nonexistent, as it seems to be case now? When did this start mattering so much that once she understood what MJ was announcing so casually to them—that they'll be over in a day—she couldn't flee their presence fast enough?

She just needs space. If she can just step away from him for a minute, and gather her thoughts, and gradually wash herself free of the feel of his hands in hers, and the taste of his lips, and the smell and warmth of his skin—if she can just step away for a minute and breathe, then things might have a chance of going back to normal.

That's all she needs.

"Hey; how are you?" She doesn't open her eyes right away, because her breath's already stuck in her throat at the sound of his voice—she doesn't need to look paralyzed too. "I didn't know you got hurt."

Finally, she sees him and it takes a lot out of her to sound normal; to keep the waver from her voice. "I'm not hurt. I just got a little scratch."

With his characteristic nonchalance, he bends down so that he's eye-level with her knee, and all Kaylie can do is hold her breath at his proximity. When he reaches out and touches a patch of her knee close to the scratch, she winces at the contact. Whatever kind of poison Austin is, it's rushing through her veins now and making her light-headed.

At the thought of them breaking up their fake relationship, she feels relief... and a horribly uneasy sensation crawling in her chest and abdomen. She focuses on the relief, on being free from lying, and not on the nauseating notion of being free from _him_.

"Yeah, it doesn't look that bad, just a little swollen," he tells her, straightening up and giving her a small smile while he speaks, "but I'm still going to put a band-aid on it."

Bandages. That was the beginning of the end.

"That's okay—you don't have to," she rushes to explain, but he dismisses her words with a simple motion, then fishes a bandage from one of the nearby cabinets. A half-minute later, he's knelt down in front of her and is gently applying an alcohol swap to her scratch, and Kaylie doesn't know what burns her more, Austin's skin against hers, or the alcohol.

"How did you fall?"

This is wrong. She can't even breathe, or think. Good thing he's looking at her knee, and not into her eyes, because she might just say something she'll regret later. Like, please stop touching me—my head is messed up because of you.

"Just a slip on the vault."

He unwraps the bandage and with a ghostly touch, smooths it over her skin.

Please, Austin... stop...

"Is it hurting?" And he does look at her, then. And her pulse quietens and her breathing suddenly becomes normal—she can exhale now—and she can think again. Because Austin is the cause of all this pain, and yet he's the only thing that can make her feel better.

"Yes. It hurts."

* * *

><p>Sasha calls Austin to his office to discuss his rings routine, and after an exchange of smiles, Austin's left her in the office and once again, Kaylie is alone with her chaotic thoughts. She can't figure out everything she's feeling and thinking, with her heart and mind in disagreement, and her body feeling the effects of their battle.<p>

It's in a particularly strong pang of confusion that she marches to the gym's exit, finds MJ's trailer in the parking lot, and approaches it with the sort of fearlessness that rises from panic.

She only needs to knock once. "Why are you breaking us up now, instead of in two months, like you told us before?"

MJ doesn't seem very surprised to see her, and Kaylie swallows hard once she registers that she's standing at the trailer's steps, being looked down upon by a stern agent that is probably annoyed with the disturbance.

"Because Austin is losing money."

That... is not what she expected to hear. Kaylie had a brief second to consider what the agent's probable responses would be, and this was definitely not among them.

"What do you mean?"

"The operation did wonders for you, and while it helped Austin's image, it did not help his finances." Maybe it's the accent, or the order of the words, or her own fragmented state of mind, but Kaylie can't quite put everything together and comprehend what she's being told. "Do you know who Austin's largest sponsor is?"

The answer to this was on Austin's list of 50 facts. "Kobalt Sunglasses."

"Exactly. And do you know what kind of spokesman is Kobalt's preference?" Kaylie shakes her head slightly, more out of reflex than for not actually knowing this—of course Kobalt wants cool, hip young men, like Austin. "They've carved Austin's persona into their brand. Men want to buy Kobalt because they want to be Austin; they want the playboy lifestyle, and the parties, and the women. Austin's recent change has made him lose stock before Kobalt's higher-ups." And then, for the first time since this conversation began, MJ displays some reluctance, a hesitation with her words. "This new... Austin... the Austin who's your boyfriend... is not the Austin they want as the face of their company. And because the majority of his income is derived from Kobalt advertising, our only option is to terminate the operation and mend his reputation back into the one that conforms to his employer's standards. The Austin delineated in the contract he signed."

It makes sense. It just... makes sense. There's no flaw in this reasoning. She can't argue against her decision, can't present an alternate solution, can't even pretend to know that this isn't the right course of action. They need to break up. Austin needs to go back to the lifestyle, the parties, and the girls.

And she, Kaylie, will just... she'll just have to...

The question comes out as a hoarse whisper. "Why did you even do this, then?" Many more questions jump into Kaylie's mind, like 'why did you put me in this when you were just going to take it away?' but she doesn't voice any of them.

MJ responds in her usual businesslike, stark manner. "Because it was necessary. There was a miscalculation with the time we would necessitate in repairing Austin's image, but the operation was necessary. And it was a success, as I have mentioned before. It was so effective that it took less time than originally projected. You two did a commendable job."

Kaylie turns to look at the gym's entrance, to her true home, where she spends day after day trying to achieve a dream upon which she's put all her hopes and her strength; a dream that right now seems impossibly far, because nothing good in her life ever stays, not the boys, not her dad, not her friends, and this title—the reigning National Champion—won't stay either.

Unless she beats Genji Cho at Worlds.

This newly-hardened goal solidifies in her mind, and she pushes away all thought of Austin to the background of her thoughts. Genji Cho—just beat Genji Cho.

Great. She can't eat for the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>Austin learns in a phone call from his accountant that Kobalt contemplated dropping him after noticing all the attention he was getting for being Kaylie Cruz's boyfriend. The accountant, who's been planning things with MJ this whole time, explains that this is the reason he advised her to break things off between him and Kaylie—to save his endorsement.<p>

"_You wanna keep your house, Tuck?"_ His middle-aged accountant, Tom, is the only person in the world who calls him Tuck. _"You wanna keep the fancy cars and the motorcycles? We gotta keep Kobalt in your pocket."_

"You know..." The beginning of his confession slips out before he can help himself, and then it's too late to stop before he's blurting out, "I like her."

"_Kaylie Cruz? I don't blame you. She's grade A, boy."_

Austin shakes his head with disapproval (Tom is 50!), but brushes his annoyance aside, and asks with some ill-contained anxiety, "do you think I can like, try to be with her and not have Kobalt find out about it?"

"_They will find out about it. You know they will. And then we'll have a nice little breach of contract to deal with, so it's not worth the trouble, Tuck."_

"So I can't date anyone? I can't be with anyone I like?" Suddenly, Austin has to swallow down the feeling that he's being slowly strangled. "I can't be with her or anyone else, ever?"

"_Tuck, your contract with Kobalt ends after the Olympics, and it'll only be renewed if you medal again. If you don't medal, then of course you can let some girl tie you up with the ball and chain, and you can have your life. You can even enjoy your last day with the Cruz girl until MJ announces the split. But you can't forget that for now, Kobalt is your money line and they ain't gonna pay us if you're not doing your part. Be cool, boy. What happened to the old Austin, huh? What happened to the party boy? Where's the guy who got a dozen models to go up to his room in Vegas on his birthday?"_

He used to be so stupid... he's sure that Tom is listing all these feats as though they're admirable, but they just made him look like an idiot. And now he can't have Kaylie.

He closes his eyes and sighs, slowly lowering the phone from his ear to his side. The buzz of Tom's voice coming from the phone is easily ignored, until it stops completely and Austin figures that the accountant has hung up.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

He can't have Kaylie.

SHIT.

(There's gotta be a way—there's got to be.)

* * *

><p>Kaylie is glad today is a holiday and they're being let out after lunch. Kelly Parker may be nicer than she expected, but she's still not the nicest person to be partnered with. Parker had managed to convince Sasha that she'd be a better fit for the duo-training today than Tessa Montgomery, which was fine, until Kaylie was reminded of just the kind of person she'd be stuck with for the day.<p>

They were powdering their hands after their warm-ups, when Emily, who had been absent the last two days due to family troubles, approached the bowl and nodded a quick greeting to them both.

Kaylie should have seen the insult coming when Kelly smirked discreetly in her usual mischievous manner. "Haven't seen you in a while, Kmetko... did you get that much-needed nose job?"

Immediately, Kaylie turned to her her with an aghast glare.

"Bite me, Parker," Emily said frostily, speeding up her powdering and throwing Kelly a glare.

"Not without a tetanus shot," she shot back with a grin, and instead of carrying on the insult exchange, Emily rolled her eyes and stepped away to join her partner, Lauren.

Come to think of it, even Lauren seemed a better partner then.

"You are a horrible, evil person," Kaylie stated simply, but that did nothing to Kelly but apparently provide some amusement.

"Someone needs to call the _Boulder Times_ and let them know that Kelly Parker and Kaylie Cruz agree on something," Kelly joked with a good-natured smile that would have been more convincing if Kelly hadn't just affronted one of the nicest girls in the gym. "Come on, loser. Let's see that layout."

Now, as they're alternating at the vault, Kaylie times Kelly's approaching run and ponders on how she's managed to survive five whole hours training side-by-side with the She-Devil without pulling out a gun on herself.

"You were 2.8 seconds faster."

"Crap. That's still terrible." Kelly gathers her breath for a minute while Kaylie watches her passively, thoughts drifting over to Austin and what he might be doing. Then she almost wishes training was over already, so she would have more time to spend with him today before their mandated break-up—but that's when she shakes her head slightly, to clear her thoughts. She's not supposed to want to see him; if anything, she should want the day to be over already, so their pretending can end and she can be her own person again.

Truth be told, she's been avoiding Austin like the plague the whole day. She hopes fervently that no one's noticed, and is just about to mentally celebrate the small victory that she hasn't been approached about Austin yet, when she hears Kelly clear her throat loudly, snapping her thoughts away from her daydreaming.

"You okay there, Cruz? Do we need to take a breather so you can continue to stare at Austin?"

Stare at Austin?

Shit. She realizes that while she had been looking "into the distance" and reflecting on the events of the day, she had actually been watching Austin as he talked to Sasha in front of the latter's office.

"Oh. No, of course not. I wasn't staring, anyway," she hurries to explain, fidgeting with the chronometer. "I was looking at... the office. Sasha's office. Not at Austin."

"Right. Something interesting in Sasha's office?" Kaylie can't tell whether Kelly is making fun of her, but then, she almost always is so it wouldn't be a surprise if that was the case here.

"Yes. His, um... new furniture...?"

God. She sounds positively idiotic.

Whatever impression Kelly has gathered from her mutterings, she doesn't insult her, doesn't laugh at her, doesn't even roll her eyes or smirk, which are her lazy ways of making sure people know she's still in control of the situation. She just watches her for a few seconds, unnerving Kaylie until she comments idly, "he really likes you, you know."

"What?"

"Austin. He does. He won't tell you that, and he'll try not to show it. He's denied it. But it's not like it's gonna go away, right? I mean, look at you." Kelly actually yawns, throwing a languid look at the large clock hanging on the wall behind her. She continues with an indifferent shrug, "I just thought you needed to know; it's important for you to know. So you're more careful with him."

"I don't know what you mean," Kaylie mumbles, utterly horrified at the direction that this conversation is going.

Kelly seems to muster a tad more interest in what she's saying than she had before, but it's still not much. Contrasted with the weight of her words, her tone and demeanor are almost too nonchalant when she explains, "I guess what I mean is that you think he's got some sort of armor against disappointment when it comes to love and just feelings in general, but he doesn't. You think he's got some immunity against you but he doesn't. You can hurt him. So, you know... be a little careful."

As though on cue, Sasha wishes them a relaxing, happy day with their families, and dismisses the gym in a cordial atmosphere that Kaylie can't get herself to fit into.

Kaylie drives homes immediately, still not quite able to stop avoiding Austin. After a quick shower, she puts on the first dress she's able to pick out from her closet, and dispiritedly applies some minimal make-up. After a deep breath to gather her wits before heading over to the Tucker home for their barbecue, Kaylie catches sight of her mother in the living room, on the phone with someone she deduces is her dad. She doesn't look too pleased, so Kaylie decides it's wiser not to linger around.

When she steps out of her house, she halts at the doorway as she spots Austin sitting down on her lawn, arms resting on top of the knees he's drawn up against his chest. She's reluctant to approach him when he seems immersed in thought, gazing across the street as though trying to see through the mountains that surround Boulder.

"I thought we were gonna run today," he speaks suddenly, startling her enough that she widens her eyes and catches her breath.

"How did you know I was here?"

Austin gives her a tiny smile, eyes asking her to smile back. "It's gonna sound creepy, but I think nowadays I can kind of sense when you're near me."

"That _is_ pretty creepy." She smiles then, not having to force it, and, seemingly satisfied, Austin turns his attention back to the street. Then Kaylie remembers his earlier comment. "I woke up late... and forgot that we were still running. Did you wait for me?"

He shrugs. "For a little bit. I was going to ask you about it when we were training today, but I figured I could just ask you later." Without turning around, he invites her to sit down with him. Her instinct is telling her to get away from him somehow, because his gravitational pull is slowly eroding her resistance, dragging her closer and closer... and she knows she won't want to go anywhere once she's with him.

"You don't want to sit on the grass?" Austin is puzzled, of course, because she's leaving him waiting for her.

"Austin... I'm not sure..." Kaylie can't string the words together so they have meaning—there are too many of them overwhelming her, and it seems so futile to fight this. She'll give in pretty soon; she'll accept that she has feelings for him, but it's never going to work out because she doesn't want him to trade his livelihood for her. "You know... us... we're... I'm..." She realizes she raised a hand to her temple. There are so many things she wants to ask him, and tell him. He stands up to face her and it only increases her anxiety. "Are you okay with this? With us breaking up?"

"No." He doesn't blink, doesn't bat an eye, doesn't take a deep breath to gather his thoughts or make his following words sound more thoughtful. "I don't feel good about it at all."

Oh my God... are they going to talk about this? (Does he like her? Does she like him?)

"Um..." Her chest is struck by a dull ache. This, whatever this is, isn't going anywhere. "Well... MJ isn't budging... and it looks like we already did everything we needed to do..."

Then Austin appears to have taken a step closer to her, because he's right in front of her, and she has to raise her chin to look him in the eye, even if all she wants to do is back away, and look anywhere else.

"We could do this, you know."

The suggestion knocks the breath from her lungs. It's such a ridiculous hope that even her teenage naivete, and that crushingly large part of her that really wants this to be true, can't go along with it.

"No, we couldn't; not without getting caught."

"I mean it; I think we can. I'll show you," Austin explains, a hint of excitement seeping into his voice, that he's obviously trying hard to hide. "If you're up for it, we can try it."

"Austin..." She doesn't even know where to begin. "Don't make this up to me to decide."

"What are you talking about?" She hates how obvious he is to her now. She hates that she's gotten to know him so well that he can't even hide his disappointment well enough for her not to notice it. "I'm telling you, if you give us a chance—"

"I can't believe you can't see all the ways this could go wrong." I mean, jeez, she wants to yell out, think about the paychecks you will stop receiving if you decide to pick me—but she can't say any of that because acknowledging that money is more important than her would hurt too much. "And you know... knowing what the stakes are..." she murmurs, trying to talk around the subject instead of broaching it head-on, "you can't... you don't like me like that, Austin—it's not worth it."

Because Austin seems to be speechless at the end of her statement, Kaylie swallows hard, consumed by a wave of insecurity and self-doubt. Austin isn't reacting to this the way she expected him to. Maybe she doesn't know him as well as she thought she did. Before she can let her double-guessing soak into her thoughts any longer, he finally does speak, and with a quiet, incredulous question. "You think I don't like you like that?"

"Well... um..." Kaylie wonders whether it'd be smarter to stop rambling and think up some more articulate responses before opening her mouth.

But now Austin's temper is flaring right in front of her and she can almost feel the heat from his anger.

"You think you're like, charming and perfect and smart, and you think you know what's best for me?"

Kaylie frowns, her back stiffens, and she realizes she's irritated, too—way more than she should be. "I'm sorry if I'm concerned for your future. Unlike you, I'm not known for my recklessness and irresponsibility."

"Oh, wow," he laughs, but it's devoid of any of that warmth she's always associated with the sound. "I wonder how I was able to put up with such a cold, judgmental prude all this time. Two weeks should have felt like twenty years! Thank God we only have a day left in this thing!"

_Oh God._ Immediately, she flinches—these words that he's so careless with, hit her in the chest and dig their claws in. It's been a while since he's deliberately offended her. She swallows hard, distantly registering a burning in her cheeks, but she's busy preparing herself for an offensive.

"Fine, then. If it has been so unbearable for you, if you hate me so much—if you don't want to, then don't date me! Don't be around me! You didn't have to do this if you don't like me!"

Then, she's slightly scared. Austin's eyes seem inflamed, and his posture now betrays much more than just anger. "Don't like you? Why the fuck do you keep saying that?" With a small step forward, she can see so much of the frustration and bewilderment in his eyes that it's very hard for her to stand her ground. "You think I don't like you? I like you so much I can't fucking stand you."

Kaylie stands completely still. Perhaps even breathing becomes unnecessary, and maybe she's finally convinced her heart to stop beating so it doesn't hurt so much.

He lowers his voice, and it does nothing but highlight the heart-wrenching aggressiveness of his tone. "And I should stop being a fucking lovesick puppy, going after you when you're the one who doesn't like me enough to give me one single damn chance—"

"Austin!" His father calls him from across the yard, obviously unaware of their heated exchange. "Come help me with the grill, son!"

"Austin," she breathes out, entirely unsure of what she can say at the moment, but luckily she doesn't have to figure that out, because Austin is already stomping away without a glance behind.

* * *

><p>The barbecue is excruciating, of course. Now Austin knows why people were always saying girls aren't worth getting attached to—it's because they're stupid and stubborn and they'll make everything hurt suddenly.<p>

Because his family is still very much convinced that they're a happy couple, they do put on their usual act. For the first time he can remember, Austin loathes touching Kaylie, and hates it even more when she touches him. He swears he can smell her on him after every one of her hugs, and it drives him mad.

Kaylie's mother joins them and it's a relief to Austin that at least now his parents can focus on something else besides how beautiful Kaylie is, how great it is that they're both heading to the Olympics and Kaylie has managed to make him settle down for a bit. There are small moments, quiet and almost imperceptible, in which Austin catches Kaylie's breathless remorse and worry, and her clear anxiety that they're being bombarded with compliments on their relationship, when in fact they'll be over in less than 24 hours.

It doesn't help that he sort of yelled at her, when all he wanted was to tell her that he really likes her and wants to be with her, if they can just keep things under wraps for a bit. Her reaction was completely unwarranted, like he's stupid and doesn't know what he's doing or what he's feeling, like his idea was laughable. Even now, awkwardly holding his arm around her as they are sitting on the wooden chairs that overlook the backyard from the deck, he can't help stiffening at the depressing thought that Kaylie Cruz just doesn't like him enough to give him a chance.

He should have been a better fake boyfriend. Then she would want him for a real boyfriend, and none of this would be happening.

He frowns. How did this happen? How did Kaylie become more important than his money, his status, and all the perks he's ever received for being a playboy?

Kaylie stands up suddenly, and he watches her silhouette join his father at the grill, offering a smile that offers none of her usual gleam, not even as she's illuminated by the last of the sun's rays peaking from behind the mountains.

This isn't going away, is it?

* * *

><p>"I need to talk to you."<p>

Kaylie sighs in the shadows, too tired to be displeased that Austin is standing at her lawn, and has managed to find her sitting on her porch steps in the middle of the night, obviously unable to sleep. She hugs her large, comfortable coat around her and forgets about the chilly breezes that have been sweeping her every few minutes, telling her to go back inside.

She appreciates that it's dark, that he can barely make out her form and vice versa, and that at least the barbecue went well enough that their parents will be genuinely shocked in a few hours, when the press and the rest of the world find out that they've broken up. The thought makes her stomach churn, so she turns her attention back to the boy in front of her.

"It's three in the morning, Austin. Go home."

He shakes his head quickly and speaks as though he hasn't heard a word she said. "I'm sorry about how I acted before. You don't like me enough to give me a chance, and I understand." That sends her a good jolt of energy through her.

"_Austin_," she growls with annoyance, containing an urge to punch him. "I like you _too much_. I like you so much that sometimes I go all the way back around to hating you. So you can stop that."

Austin blinks a few times, staring at her blankly, and Kaylie is surprised to notice that she was able to admit her feelings without reluctance or embarrassment. This only happens with him, and only when he infuriates her.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"I don't want to argue with you," she replies dismissively. "It doesn't matter, anyway. The fact remains; you're under contract and you can't be with me unless you're also simultaneously with lots more girls, which I will never, ever allow because I don't want to go into a murderous rage."

"You'd be jealous of me?" Now Kaylie wishes he'd be angry with her again, instead of amused.

Impatiently, she forces herself to look at him in the semi-darkness, making out the slightest hint of a smile playing on his face. "Why are you here, again?"

"Did it ever feel real to you?"

Jesus. How can he just _ask_ something like this, so abruptly, like he's not afraid? "Yes. It did. Can we stop talking about this?"

"Why? I like hearing that you like me."

"It was difficult, you being you," Kaylie decides to joke sarcastically, pained as she is to still be discussing something so close to her heart. "But it happened. I guess you're just that charming."

She watches him swallow hard, shoving his hands into his pockets and meeting her eyes carefully. "I figured out that I've always liked you, and now I don't know how to stop." Kaylie feels a terrifying flutter in her chest. "You, being the more experienced of us two when it comes to relationships, tell me how to get rid of this."

Is he serious? He looks serious.

"Um... well, you can give it some time. If we don't see each other for a while, I'm sure you'll forget about me."

"Well, but I have to see you everyday. We train together. I can't always be at the annex." He's surprisingly rational, carefully delineating his point.

"You could... find another girl. Or _girls_." That suggestion hurts to say; every word seems to give her a kick on the heart. "That'd probably work the fastest."

It takes a smirk from him for her to frown and start to process what he's saying. "But you've changed me so much, you know. I'm actually boyfriend material now, since you went ahead and personalized me to your taste; the girls that used to like me won't even look my way now."

Oh. He's joking. He has been joking this whole time. How did she not notice?

She releases a shallow laugh, still so, so unsure of where they're going with this. She's just kind of tired of running away and finding excuses to run away. Can't she just stay? Can't she just keep him?

"You're not saying anything," Austin points out, making her aware that he's closer to her now.

"I don't know what to tell you." A flurry of panic shuts her brain down, and before she can really register what she's saying, she's already hearing her own foreign-sounding voice: "I want you to choose me, but I don't want you to lose anything because of me."

Austin sits down beside her at the porch steps, then sends her a warm, nervous smile. "You know, we have 3 hours before MJ calls the press on us."

"Yeah. We do."

A thick silence settles between them, and Kaylie almost feels the mist pressing against her from all sides, trying to choke her into crying. And all it takes is Austin to sneak over a hand to envelop hers, for that horrible claustrophobic feeling to be gone.

* * *

><p>He doesn't know what makes him suggest it. He's holding her hand, for some reason; he's smoothing his thumb over her skin, depleted of any new words or ideas for their situation. But there's some pulsing craziness and recklessness inside him, threatening to spill and either ruin things completely, or make everything better—at least for now.<p>

"We could be real for those 3 hours."

It's so quiet between them that he can hear her breath hitch.

"That's... not a really good idea."

"I wanna know what it'd have been like."

Kaylie sighs, looking down at her feet and chuckling softly. "It's going to be torture."

"I wanna know," he insists, only because he's been wanting this forever, and he's not going to just let her go without knowing what this—this sense of urgency in his heart and his lungs that she brings on—can feel like.

"If you really like me, trust me, you don't wanna know."

Impulsively, he reaches over and wraps his arms around her, completely disregarding the awkward positioning with their legs and the height difference, and the thick coat she's wearing, and the fact that she's been caught off guard.

"Please don't do that," he hears the tiny vibration of her pained words against his neck.

"Why?"

"Because it feels real."

He releases her, intending to leave and bury everything Kaylie has ever given him and left on him, but one look into her cheerless eyes and he might as well have been chained to the spot.

In a rush of bitterness, he mumbles into the darkness, "you really ruined me," and hears Kaylie sigh slowly.

"I'm not exactly intact after you either, you know."

They're silent again, and he examines his hands distractedly, imagining how many times he's touched her. And how he never will again. Idly, he comments, "I've liked you for so long, you know. I mean, really, it's been a fucking long time."

"Austin," he hears her call faintly, and upon turning to look at her, Austin realizes that she's actually smiling. It's not one of those bright, happy smiles that always made him go brain-dead around her, but it's a smile nonetheless and she hasn't given him one of those in what feels like forever. "If you really want, we can try that out. The thing you suggested."

Instantly, he brightens. "You mean, you'll show me what it'd have been like?"

"Yeah. If it was real," she agrees, smiling a bit more and making him a bit more breathless. She stands up and motions for him to follow suit. When he complies, she watches him for a quick second, heightening his expectations, then steps forward and slowly places her hands around his neck, pulling him down into a hug. The feeling of being pressed against her body sends waves of warmth splashing throughout his body, and he can't help a wide grin that he's glad she can't see. The motion is the same—that's what amazes him. The fact that he's been hugged before, and by her, but this feels different because now he knows that she likes him, and she's wrapped her arms around him as an expression of her feelings for him. The sensation is mind-blowingly perfect.

He notices her body, then her scent, then the texture of her hair, and then he has to agree that Kaylie was right, just as she always is: this is going to be torture.

"You're driving me crazy," he murmurs, causing Kaylie to step back. Immediately, he mourns the lack of contact, but now he can look at her, and she's goddamn beautiful.

"What did you say?"

"I mean... we haven't really been close in a while," he tries to explain lamely, "and now with you touching me, and hugging me, and now that it's real... it's making me go kind of crazy."

For the first time since they've been given the news of their break-up, Kaylie laughs. It's a low, breathy laugh, colored by disbelief and amusement. Then she says quietly, "wait until I kiss you, then."

And that's when he thinks the torture is worth it; that everything in the world is worth it, because she's Kaylie Cruz and he might very possibly really, really love her.

Kaylie Cruz is kissing him, because she likes him. She tastes like something perfect and terribly addicting, and she touches his cheek gently like she'll hurt him—she can hurt him—and like he's something worth caring for, when he's really not.

He's struck by the thought that this isn't going to last only 3 hours. This isn't going to be over today. He'll make sure of it, because there's no fucking way anyone is taking Kaylie from him.

* * *

><p>Kaylie breaks the kiss off, light-headed at the sensation that she's done something so inconceivably dangerous to her well-being.<p>

She's been worried about him, about what would happen if he chose her and in the process, lost his biggest contract and source of income. And in the stress of worrying about that, she forgot her own reservation, her own reasons for stepping back. She can see now why Austin was always so dangerous; why she should have been afraid of being close to him. She's been blinded by feelings for this boy, and for her concern over his happiness, and it's only now, in this instant, when she's irreversibly tangled in the webs of her heart, that she can see it.

In that instant—when she breaks the kiss and feels the force of his feelings for her overwhelm her own feelings for him—a moment that stretches and stretches and pulls her apart with it, in that moment she's consumed by the strangest fear she's known in her life. For all her years she's had to live alone, and be content to fend for herself, and all her life she's trekked through her path without relying on anyone, without having a safe place to land, someone she could turn to if the world got to be too much. But in that moment, that foreign brand of fear takes over, burns her until she's inwardly hissing; she _knows_ now what it's like to lean on someone, and now she's started something that isn't going to go away. She knows what it's like now to look beside her and see someone there, someone who's witnessing what she's doing, someone who can tell the world about her if everyone forgets. This feeling, however temporary it turns out to be, is going to stay with her, like an ugly scar, and she knows it won't disappear no matter how many times she tries to wash it off or bury it or forget it—it's going to stay in her system, and every time she's alone, instead of walking on ahead without caring, she'll care, and she'll remember that there was once, briefly, a hand she could hold, that tethered her to the rest of the world so she wouldn't be that dead limb that was always about to be cut off.

Now that she knows all of this; now that she know what it can be like, what is she going to do when this is over?

"I'm never letting you go, you know. It's not going to be just 3 hours. I'm never letting you go."

* * *

><p>AN: I considered ending this chapter on a happy note and concluding the entire fic. But I figured that there's a lot of ground still to cover with these two, and I've already sort of blueprinted the rest of the fic, so I might as well go all the way. Speaking of going all the way, there will be about two M-rated chapters soon. I don't know if it'd be better to include them as part of this fic (labeling the chapters as M), or publishing them as separate stories, tied to this one, and then rate those stories M. Let me know what you think is best. And please review! :)


	15. ReverseFlirting

**CHAPTER 15: Reverse-Flirting  
><strong>

It's uncomfortable, really. Just watching them is uncomfortable. According to all the news sources, they broke up on Thursday, so it's barely been 2 days—that's the problem. They haven't had time yet to get rid of the awkwardness that comes with training with your ex.

Kelly should know; she trained with Nicky Russo for a year after they were over.

Yesterday, only a few hours after the news broke of their split, Kaylie and Austin were at the gym looking very much like they had gotten no sleep, and maybe that a truck had run over them both. They had practically avoided one another the whole day, preferring to walk the long way around the apparatuses instead of risking the chance of running into each other. It was amusing, yes. But also a little depressing, because they seemed to like each other so much.

Apparently everyone else in the gym is as intrigued by their break-up as she is, because no one really seems to train for the first hour or so that day, preferring instead to whisper and stare and treat them as though they are lepers.

Kelly's attempts to find out what happened between them were met with a hardened glare (Austin) and an eye-roll (Kaylie). As far as she knows, even Kaylie's actual friends, the rest of her posse, didn't have any success. These two are very tight-lipped about their separation, and the curiosity is killing her.

She's pulled from her musings when Sasha calls everyone to line up at center mats for a quick instructional briefing. Kelly can't muster much interest for whatever it is that the coach is saying; not when she can focus her attention instead on Kaylie and Austin carefully edging away from each other so they won't have to stand so closely.

Kelly catches snippets of Sasha's words; something about how in the last few days, he's paired the gymnasts up according to strengths and weaknesses, but that today he'd like to try to sort everyone up by their international ranking. Kaylie frowns, Austin crosses his arms impatiently, and then Kelly realizes why—they're the top-ranked gymnasts in the gym. They're getting paired off today for practice.

This is gonna be interesting.

* * *

><p>Payson is considering whether to resort to locking Kaylie inside one of the broom closets with her, in order to get the girl to say more than two words about her break-up. Yesterday, Kaylie barely greeted anyone, and today it looks like it's going to be the same. Yes, Payson understands that break-ups are hard (not that she's gone through one), but this is what friends are for—support, and a shoulder to cry and whine on.<p>

If only Kaylie would stop avoiding her!

The girl is understandably withdrawn, with all the paparazzi camped out at the Rock's parking lot and at the street in front of their houses, but Payson is getting impatient at not having any of her calls and texts returned, and having to watch Kaylie more or less brush off everybody who comes near her. And it's not that she looks sad, per se. No, Kaylie looks passive, and almost a little too calm about things. But she's making no effort to talk to anyone, and that's what worries Payson.

Now that Kaylie and Austin have been paired up for practice today—Lord almighty, sometimes Sasha has the oddest ideas—the atmosphere at the gym is considerably tenser. It's almost like everyone is expecting some sort of confrontation; for whatever caused their break-up to blow up into a fight. But it's been a few hours and so far there hasn't been anything obvious. A few terse looks here and there, and the general feeling that sometimes they seem to become aware of how close or far they're standing, and how many people are watching them quite obviously out of the corner of their eyes.

Unfortunately, Payson has to call herself one of those people. It's easy to feel like a stalker when she's circling Kaylie from afar, waiting for the right moment to approach her. The problem, of course, is that she's talking to Austin by the uneven bars (about their routines, it seems) and this interaction has sparked the interest of apparently the whole gym; most girls have managed to find things to do close to where the two stand, not-so-discreetly-eavesdropping on their conversation. Payson can't blame them for their curiosity, but their huddle around Austin and Kaylie is completely messing up her plan.

Then, she gets just close enough to hear this:

"Don't do it. You need to rest your shoulder," Kaylie is saying quietly, and Payson adds her tone to the calmness of her pleading voice, and feels a pang of worry that these two liked each other too much—that this break-up isn't going to be an easy one to get over.

"I need to practice it... are you doing your triple twist on the beam?"

"I'm not doing beam today, just floors and my vault."

"Why? You're already perfect," he tells her easily, keeping his words hushed. But Payson still hears them, and still winces when she hears them. Austin needs to stop looking at Kaylie like this; like she's something he's building a shrine for. "Your beam needs work."

"Fine. I guess I'll squeeze in a few hours of beam," Kaylie relents, then raises a hand, too close to his arm—then, almost as though she's remembering something, she quickly drops it and turns away. "Okay, let's just get a move on." Austin's eyes linger on the arm she almost touched, and then he raises them to watch Kaylie walk away from him, and that's when Payson has to look away.

After having caught this exchange, Payson feels even less assured than before that Kaylie is as okay with things as she's made it seem. Austin is nowhere near well, either, but Kaylie is her friend, and she needs some comforting words, someone to lean on. That's what makes Payson plot to take all the girls to Kaylie's house that night for an impromptu sleepover. Kaylie always liked those (Payson kind of hated them, to be honest), and there seems to be no better idea to lift Kaylie's spirits.

* * *

><p>By the time lunch rolls around, Kelly is tired of watching Kaylie and Austin tip-toe around each other, and decides she'll resort to some basic scheming to get them to at least spend time together without looking like they're under torture. It worked with her and Nicky Russo when they broke up and were coincidentally forced to be training partners for the rest of the year, courtesy of the infinitely wise (and by that she means infinitely stupid) coach Marty.<p>

She orders an extra vault pad (unnecessarily, since she already owns a brand new one) at the gymnastics supply store in front of which Kaylie and Austin were first photographed kissing, and then expedites the order so it'll be available for pick-up at 1pm, which is only half an hour away. When she hangs up, she's moderately impressed by her quick thinking, but can't help worrying that for all her machinations, Kaylie and Austin are just not going to see eye-to-eye after their break-up. But it's easy to push that worry aside and snap back into scheming mode. A little manipulation here and there never hurt anyone.

"Austin, I need your help." She watches him raise his impressive build from behind his car's trunk, and gives him her best, brightest smile. It doesn't make him agree to help her—in fact, he raises his eyebrows in careful suspicion.

"Did you kill someone? Do you need me to get rid of a body or something?"

She would laugh if she didn't need to maintain control over this conversation.

"No," Kelly denies, keeping her pleasant smile in place. "But you're in my speed dial in case that happens. What I need is for you to pick up something for me." She elaborates her request when he continues to watch her with mild interest. "I have some equipment that I need to have picked up from that hardware place on the other side of town. I told them I'd be there at 1pm, but something came up."

"You need me to pick it up for you?"

"Yes, please."

Austin shrugs, and Kelly is glad that he's not offering any resistance.

"Sure. I was going that way to eat anyway."

Their attention is snatched by Lauren Tanner and Emily Kmetko passing by—the latter silent as always, as the former undoubtedly babbles on with her usual nonsense. Lauren is parked a few feet from Austin, so although Kelly would like nothing more than tune out their chatter, she can hear them loud and clear.

"Thank, by the way," Kelly thanks Austin, about to walk away when a few words from the neighboring conversation stand out.

"...and you know what I think? Maybe we can find her a new boyfriend. You know, so she won't be so sad."

"I think matchmaking is a terrible idea, Lauren."

"Trust me—I know Kaylie. I know her type. 'Gymnast' is her type. Ooh, maybe she'll get back together with Nicky Russo!"

Kelly can't help feeling a small stab in her chest at the mention of his name, so careless and casual, and in the context of his romance with another girl, too.

"That doesn't sound remotely likely." Emily's tone is almost motherly, as though she were speaking to a child in response to impossible, delirious dreams and plans. But these plans aren't at all impossible, which is what Kelly surmises is her ultimate source of dread. That Nicky Russo is coming back from his vacation soon, and because Denver Elite has been relocated to the Rock, he'll come back here and get swept up by Kaylie Cruz again. Especially now that she's single.

The girls have boarded Lauren's car and it takes off as Kelly watches it disappear in the distance, taking with it only a tiny part of her worry.

"You were eavesdropping," Austin accuses flatly, and she smiles through her reply.

"Who are you—the Privacy Police? Yes, I was eavesdropping. And so were you."

Austin closes his trunk and stands by her, watching the same empty road in front of the gym. "They're planning to get her a new boyfriend, is that right?"

"Not just any new boyfriend, apparently. Didn't you hear them mention someone's name?"

"Nope, didn't catch anyone's name. But I'm not worried," he shrugs quietly, not quite looking at her. Kelly can't tell if he's lying, or hiding something from her.

"Because you don't like her anymore, or because you think she still likes you?" she presses, quite curious now.

"That doesn't matter. But I do think that there aren't a whole lot of guys for her to choose from around here."

"There might be one in particular, later on," Kelly says carefully, more to preserve her own composure than for anything else.

"Who?"

She almost clears her throat, but that'd be a giveaway that this isn't a comfortable topic for her—Austin is a great friend and all, but she's never told anyone about this part of her. "Nicky Russo."

"Right. And they think they'd be a good match or what?" Austin clearly isn't taking this seriously, which is fine, because Nicky isn't here, at the gym, posing a threat. That, and he doesn't know what she's about to tell him.

"They would be a good match, though. They _were_, once. A few months ago, before he went to Denver. Before you came here."

Her words have the expected effect. It's finally sinking in to Austin Tucker that his ex-girlfriend, for whom he may or may not still have feelings for, has an ex-boyfriend that isn't wimpy Carter Anderson. It's someone who might actually be his equal, in many ways; his biggest gymnast rival in America, the guy he's constantly battling against for titles. And by the frown on his face, Kelly deduces that Kaylie hadn't mentioned her past with Nicky to him before.

"Anyway, see you around, hot stuff," she says playfully, then gives him a grateful pat on the back and watches him drive away, before taking a deep, composing breath, and making her way to the locker room, where Kaylie should still be changing. Upon seeing the girl carefully removing her hand braces, Kelly pauses by her row of lockers. Kaylie is the one people are worried about, but her concern has always been for Austin, because he's the boy, and he was the one falling in love for the first time. Not Kaylie. And yet, right at this moment, Kelly feels a pang of sadness for the girl and that makes her convictions waver—Kaylie is hurting, too. It's not obvious or anything, because she's keeping things so tightly wrapped around her passive expression, but it's there.

"Hi, Kaylie."

Kaylie turns to her, but continues to unwrap her hands. "Hey, Parker." Last names—she's calling her by her last name. That... stings her a bit.

"So, I was wondering whether you could help me out with something."

"What do you need?"

"I have some equipment that I need to pick up at 1pm from that gymnastics hardware store at the other side of town. But I can't go, and I don't want to pay that extra storage fee, you know. Could you please pick it up for me?"

Kaylie is unreadable. That's the worst part about this break-up, in Kelly's opinion. She's used to knowing everything about everybody—she practically owned everyone in Denver—but now she can't even figure out whether Kaylie is listening to her.

"Um... okay, I guess. What did you order? Does it fit in my car?"

"Yeah, it'll fit in your car," Kelly replies, trying to smile the same way she did with Austin, but it's harder to fake these things when it's Kaylie, because she's... Kaylie. She's probably the best person Kelly has ever met. "It's a vault pad."

"Okay, then. I'll be right over."

With that, Kelly judges it best to give the girl her space and privacy back, but when she steps out of the locker room and takes a look at the boy standing passively at the gym's entrance, she almost turns around and goes back in. Instead, she stays rooted to her spot, not breathing, not blinking, and is unfrozen back into motion only when Sasha calls him to his office, and she's sure neither of them saw her.

If him being here means what she thinks it means... then her life (and at least one other person's) has officially gone to shit.

* * *

><p>"Hi. I'm here to pick up a vault pad," Kaylie explains to Eddie, the same boy who's always on duty at the store. And as usual, he watches her with an intense, adoring stare that's flattering and kind of unsettling at the same time. "The order is under the name Parker."<p>

Kaylie feels his approach; senses it, rather than sees or hears it. "You're picking that up?" She wants to smile. But she can't. So she bites a tiny corner of her lip, then turns to the smirking boy next to her. The brilliance of Austin's eyes makes her slightly breathless. Which is really bad. "What a coincidence. So am I."

Is he flirting? If so, he's treading dangerous territory. Eddie has more than likely read an article about their break-up. In fact, judging by his widened eyes and the way his gaze is snapping from her to Austin, then back to her, he's probably read _all_ the newspapers.

"There must be a misunderstanding," Kaylie counters calmly, then turns to Eddie with pursed lips and politely asks him, "can you please get the vault pad, and we'll sort this out meanwhile?"

"Of course, Kaylie," Eddie assures her quickly, turning right away to the storage shed. "I'll be right back."

It's a second after he disappears that Kaylie turns to Austin again, and this time she finally gives in and smiles. "You want to get caught, don't you?"

Austin's features are ablaze with a lively, happy grin in response to her soft whisper. "That boy has a crush on you. And I don't like it. I don't like any other boys that like you."

There's an undercurrent of tension in his playful words—something foreign, that she hasn't really seen before. But she can't focus on that at the moment. He's adorable, almost too much so. Especially when he's looking at her like this, like her mere proximity has brightened his day. Kaylie feels the ache that's been plaguing her all day hit her full force—she wishes she could be a little closer to him. "If you're this pouty just because a boy said a few words to me, I wonder what you'd do if I flirted with him a little."

"You wouldn't dare." He steps closer to her, and she feels his hand brush her waist, sending a strong current of heat through her. She's probably blushing, and she wants to fight it and tell him to back away before someone takes a picture of them, but instead, her competitive side emerges, urged on by all this flirting and his maddening charm.

Instead of stepping away, she leans forward.

"You think I wouldn't?" Kaylie knows him now; she knows just what kinds of smiles make him weak. "Watch me."

They hear the shuffle of Eddie's return and immediately take a few steps away from each other. She relishes that Austin is having a hard time looking away from her, containing a smile when she tells Eddie that Austin is going to carry the vault pad.

"Thanks, Eddie," she tells him pleasantly, and can almost hear Austin grinding his teeth in annoyance from behind the large pad in nestled in his arms. "You're such a sweetheart."

"Oh, well, um, thanks... thanks Kaylie." It might be mean to give the boy hope like this, but the only thing in Kaylie's mind right then is how much she wishes she could watch Austin's reaction. But Austin is already turning to the exit with a huff and Kaylie almost giggles, barely successful in holding it in.

After he's unloaded the vault pad onto his truck, they take quick peeks at the street, then Austin points his chin to a secluded area by the nearby park, a darker area shaded by a cluster of taller trees. "I'll go first," he tells her in a murmur. And he takes off discreetly, like some sort of James Bond spy—the scene makes Kaylie laugh.

She waits about half a minute then follows him into the area, and almost yelps when she feels him grab her arm and pull her down by some bushes, so that they're both on their knees. This isn't a place where she'd ever crouch down on; there are bugs and spider webs and the earth is moist, and maybe there are some lizards crawling around. She begins to tell him so, "great choice of hiding place, Austin—I'm pretty sure some hungry raccoon is going to say hi to us at any momen—" but he interrupts her, of course, with a mumbled "finally; thank God." Then, he's pressing his lips to hers and she sighs with relief because she's been craving this all day long, and she was so sure she would have had to put up with spending hours without any contact with Austin if Kelly hadn't arranged this little meet-up.

She snakes a hand around his shoulder, and feels his hands pull her by the waist, closer to him, activating all sorts of nerve endings in her body reacting to being pressed against him. These are the moments when she forgets how badly she wishes they could just be a regular couple, out in the open; all she feels is gratefulness, that they can have this, at least. Yes, she's hiding behind dirty, raccoon-infested bushes in the middle of a small forest, but she's with Austin.

"Austin," she breaks off the kiss slowly, then uses the pause to catch her breath and watch his smile. The lingering effects of kissing Austin make her slightly light-headed. "Um, did you get a text from MJ earlier?" He's staring. At her mouth. And she's losing her train of thought. "Asking for a meeting?"

"No," he murmurs, then leans forward and kisses the side of her neck. Kaylie has to try very hard to continue breathing and talking while she feels his lips press against her skin. "Why?"

"She texted me... um..." She can't think clearly. She doesn't even know why she's trying; the few words that occur to her seem jambled on her tongue. "Didn't tell me... what it was about..." Austin mumbles his assent and the vibration from his deep voice sends a shiver down her body. She realizes she's running her hands through the length of his torso.

"It's hot here," he breathes out, and Kaylie wants to agree verbally, but all she can do is nod slowly, angling her head down so she can kiss him. "No, really; you're making things really difficult for me," Austin insists, dodging her kiss and releasing a shallow, breathless laugh. "You're... super, super hot. Too much for your own good."

It's easy for her to laugh, too, blushing at the same time because no one's ever talked about her this way.

"You know, it's really hard for me to keep my hands off you when we're at the gym pretending we don't talk," he tells her with an amused grin. "And I just want to keep watching you; you're always catching my eye, and I can't look at you."

"We can talk more, if you want... but pretending we really don't like each other."

With a widening smile, Austin lets Kaylie know that he likes her idea. "We'll reverse-flirt."

She's smiling too, so wide that it bursts into a laugh as she looks into Austin's lop-sided grin.

This boy... is perfect.

"Reverse-flirting sounds like a plan."

* * *

><p>"Why couldn't you just park your car in the next slot?"<p>

"Because there's a maintenance truck there."

"So? You took my spot. You can park with everyone else on the other side of the parking lot."

"I'm the Olympic champion. I have preferential parking by default."

"You're also illiterate, apparently, because my spot says 'Kaylie Cruz' not 'Olympic champion, whoever it is.'"

"Don't wanna walk a few extra feet to the gym?"

"Back at ya, Tucker."

Kaylie notices the slightest twitch at the corner of Austin's lips—he wants to smile. She'd be lying if she denied that she wants to smile, too, and laugh and poke him in the ribs and accuse him of being bad at pretending to be mad at her. But this is all a farce, and they've gotten quite good at hiding the true nature of their relationship; the evidence is in the stares they're receiving at the moment, which Kaylie notices despite being currently engaged in a glaring contest with Austin. Payson and Emily, for example, look nothing short of aghast, as though they're witnessing a slow-occurring trainwreck in front of her.

"Kaylie, Austin," she hears someone greet behind her, and she doesn't need to turn around to confirm that it's their agent, MJ, whose presence seems to scare off most of the surrounding gymnasts into going inside the gym, and who also doesn't wait for a response before commenting lightly, "I see you two have been doing splendidly since our last check-in. How nice to see you bickering in public." MJ's sarcasm makes Kaylie feel stupid, suddenly. "Kaylie, please follow me to my trailer."

* * *

><p>Austin makes his way inside the gym once Kaylie has left with MJ, deciding to get some work started in the annex with his pommel horse. On his way there, he tries very hard not to think about Kaylie, not to replay her smiles and laughs inside his mind, and the kisses she gives him and touches she burns his skin with. He tries to fight the pleasant knot in his stomach, the one that is almost overbearing when his mind is filled with her. But it's very difficult. And that's why, when he walks into the annex, he's wearing an undoubtedly goofy grin that only disappears when he notices the gymnast currently twisting and leaping off the pommel horse. The sight stops him on his tracks, even if it shouldn't—even if the boy doesn't really intimidate him.<p>

Well... after this afternoon and all the information Kelly supplied him with, maybe he is a bit intimidated.

* * *

><p>"Your numbers in the market are tracking wonderfully," MJ explains to her with the sort of excitement Kaylie has never, ever seen on her agent's face, and it scares her a bit. Whatever this introduction is leading to, it's going to be major news. "And if we can get them a bit higher than what we have now, and that is an achievable goal, logically, you will land—quite impressively—an endorsement from Nike."<p>

Holy shit. Nike. The holy grail of sports endorsements. Even Austin doesn't have Nike.

"Oh. Wow," Kaylie breathes out, still processing her agent's reveal. This is huge. This is bigger than huge. "But I haven't even won anything yet."

"You're our National Champion, and in a month, you're set to be the Worlds champion as well. They've decided to bank on your newfound fame and your established renown."

Holy shit. Nike. Her parents are going to freak out.

"Okay. So... what do they want?"

MJ rises from her seat behind the imposing desk that has always looked so out of space inside the office slash trailer, and sits beside Kaylie on one of the chairs in front of it. "We need to give you a bit more positive exposure. And as it seems that the public has responded well to your romance with Austin, and have even taken your side in the break-up," at this, Kaylie can't contain a frown, "it would be wise to capitalize on that and arrange another romance for you."

Oh... that's not going to work...

"Um, is there... is there anything else that I can do? Maybe go on a talk show or do any normal things? Do I have to date someone again?" MJ is prepped to answer her at that moment, but Kaylie goes on without allowing her agent to interrupt her. "The thing with Austin was fine, but it was stressful, and I don't think I can do it again," and at that second she thinks,_ because I'm still dating him_, "and besides, there aren't any famous guys like Austin that I could be seen with all the time anyway."

"There is one, actually," MJ replies dismissively, then shakes her head with a small movement and explains patiently, "we don't have time for other approaches. Any other course of action would be too time-consuming, and your goal is to secure this before Worlds. We need results in less than a month."

Oh my God... is Austin going to be okay with this? Are her parents?

"I'm sure that if you find out who I have in mind for you, your resistance may be significantly reduced," MJ continues slyly, instantly making Kaylie tense on her chair.

She decides to play along, because finding out more about this proposition can't hurt."Because he's like, hot or something? A super famous athlete?"

Can it? Can it hurt?

"No. Because..." The agent hesitates, and Kaylie senses that her reluctance has to do with her formulating the best way to phrase her thoughts. "Because you know him. Quite well."

"I know him," she repeats apprehensively. There's a slow-burning anticipation in her, that this guy she might possibly fake date isn't going to make things easy. Whatever that means.

It can't hurt to know about this, she tells herself again, to ward off the cowardice nudging her to leave the trailer.

"Who is it?"

"Nicky Russo."

Oh.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Sorry for the delay. I was on vacation for a month :) Thanks for your support and reviews. Every time I update this story, I can't wait to read you guys' thoughts on it. It's so rewarding to get a response. So again, thanks for everything. And keep reviewing me and letting me know your opinion. The M-rated parts are going to start with the next chapter so we can all can look forward to that.

Also, yes, Nicky Russo is baaaack! I won't go into his role in this too much, but I'll just state loud and clear that my KayAus flag flies high and proud. So this isn't going to turn into a Kaylicky story, don't worry :D


	16. The Medal

A/N: Rating warning for this chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 16: The Medal<strong>

Kaylie steps out of MJ's trailer and makes it a few steps away from it before pausing at the parking lot. Her arms relax at her side, her gaze falls slowly to the pavement; her mind is far, far away from the gym right now. Vaguely, she's aware that MJ has driven away, and she has no excuse not to make her way back to the Rock, to continue her training. Yes, the day is almost over, but there's still a good two hours to go...

Nicky Russo... is back.

Oh my God.

She releases a quiet sigh, raising her eyes back up to the entrance. He's in there right now, isn't he? Maybe he's even talking to Austin; they have competed side by side for the last few years or so, after all. Austin was the gold medalist at last year's Nationals, the same event in which Kaylie herself was crowned champion, the same event in which Nicky Russo, despite the all-day training and extraordinary focus, was awarded the silver.

MJ told her about her latest plan, which consists of Kaylie pretending to date yet another fellow gymnast, with the goal of increasing her national exposure even more and landing the ultimate sponsorship, Nike. That would be a tremendous jump from her current main sponsor. Yet MJ gave her the option to accept or not accept her proposal. And she also made sure Kaylie knew that Nicky was up for it, seeing as how his own sponsorships needed an upgrade.

This makes Kaylie curious, of course. Nicky doesn't seem to be the sort of guy that would even consider pretend-dating anyone, no matter the possible benefits. In fact, when was the last time Nicky dated any girl, period?

She realizes she's just spent quite a number of minutes speculating on Nicky's love life before she decides that her lack of courage is shameful—she's Kaylie goddamn Cruz, and she can talk to a boy she used to have a crush on. She has a (secret) boyfriend now, she's older, and she's no longer carrying that guilty, embarrassed weight she had on her shoulders back when Nicky's life overlapped hers; back when she thought she didn't deserve the gold and was a failure. She's a different girl.

Determinedly she walks into the gym and heads straight to the annex, where, her instinct tells her, Nicky will be at the still rings, the apparatus for which he's known around the world, the one where he's practically unbeatable. Through her first steps into the annex, her eyes are glued to the rings, immediately identifying the gymnast hanging from them—it is indeed Nicky, and the sight makes her swallow hard.

He looks the same. That hair that couldn't be tamed with the world's strongest gel, the eyes that are intense but just wide enough to always betray some innocence...

(She almost stole this boy from her best friend. She almost stole this boy from her best friend. She almost...)

Before her nerves get the better of her, she marches to the mat beneath the rings. Nicky's eyes seem to zero in on her, and he lets go of the rings carefully, landing closely in front of her with a soft thud.

Kaylie knows she should say something. While her eyes sweep his ever-messy hair, and the instant grin he's displayed upon seeing her, she should be welcoming him back to the gym, telling him it's great to see him again, and maybe even giving him a hug, but she's rooted to her spot, and all she manages is a small smile, followed by an almost imperceptible "hi."

"Hey." Nicky is his usual self, uneasy in situations that shouldn't be uneasy, awkward when there's no reason to be awkward. But then Kaylie thinks he might have gotten better at that—he's smiling at her, and he didn't use to do that. "It's good to see you, Kaylie."

"I talked to MJ." Oh crap. She didn't even bother trying to be polite. A quick flash of panic jumpstarts her back into conversation. "I mean—it's good to see you, too."

Instead of being insulted, or maybe even appalled by her rude slip, Nicky chuckles. "Yeah, she had the craziest idea, huh? I mean, it sounds like it works."

Kaylie nods slowly, relieved more than anything, that MJ wasn't lying, and that Nicky really has agreed to this. "It worked for me... and Austin."

It's Nicky's turn to betray shock upon her reveal. "That was fake? I thought MJ was joking."

"It was fake." Her own heart begins to drum a little faster at the thought of Austin, and she has to try not to think about his smile, and how much she wishes she could be with him. "Then it wasn't."

"But you broke up with him, right? I mean, that was all over the newspapers."

Kaylie isn't sure of just how much she can reveal to Nicky at the moment. But she does know that her relationship with Austin is absolutely top-secret, no matter how convenient it would be to simply tell Nicky all about it, so he would understand if she has any reservations about acting out the instructions in the "operation manual" that MJ has no doubt already given him.

"Yes, we really were together, but the break-up was real too... we just didn't work out," she explains smoothly, a bit nervous that he'll see right through her lie. No one has yet—not her best friends, no one in her family—but they've only been together for two days. She isn't sure how long she and Austin can keep acting they don't like each other and aren't together. "Do you want to talk things over and plan it out, before we have to start doing stuff?"

Nicky slaps his hands free of some chalk and begins to remove his hand braces, all the while smiling through a gaze she can't quite read. "Sure. How about we meet up tomorrow?"

Tomorrow... is Sunday. He wants to meet on their one day off from the gym. The day she had been sort of daydreaming about; sneaking out of the city with Austin, spending some time alone before coming back to Boulder and going on pretending they don't know each other anymore. An added factor is that Monday is their first day at Foothills, the training camp in which she and all the other elite gymnasts will be spending a week coaching the juniors. Knowing how Foothills works, there will be no mixing of girls and boys, which means she won't be able to really see Austin for a whole five days.

Oh my God... that's going to be torture...

"Kaylie?"

Right—Nicky is still in front of her, expecting an answer. "Yeah, sure. We can meet tomorrow. Wanna have lunch at the Pizza Shack?" His eyebrows shoot straight to the top of his forehead and Kaylie fears she's said something wrong. "You don't like pizza? They have other stuff..."

"No, it's just that... isn't it that trendy place you and your posse would always go to?"

Immediately, her tension melts into an embarrassed smile. Nicky is still such a boy. "My posse? Why does everyone say that? I don't have a posse."

"Yes, you do." He clutches his braces in front of him, grinning wider now at what she assumes is all the blushing going on in her face. "Do you still live in the same house?"

She's kind of missed him, she decides right then. They were starting to become good friends just before he left, right? And now that there seems to be no lingering awkwardness between them, she can remember that Nicky deserves some credit for helping put her mind in the right place after Nationals. She was sort of a mess, wasn't she? "Yeah, same house."

"All right, princess. See you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>She's almost done packing for Monday, and it's only been about two hours since she came home from the gym; it seems she won't have time to do this on Sunday and their departing time for Foothills is very early the next day. Her mission commenced but a few minutes after she was done showering and now all she needs to do is pick which shampoos and conditioners she'll take. Kaylie is a great packer, as a matter of fact; she muses that she may be better than even Payson, and that's the girl who's okay repeating outfits.<p>

All her hygiene products have been lined up on her bathroom counter and she's taking a minute to study each bottle and consider their weight and the possibility that they'll explode in her bags before she finally picks one. But a muffled crashing sound from her balcony snaps her out of her thoughts. Upon exiting the bathroom and entering her room, her eyes are fixed on the sliding glass door that is currently separating her from Austin's sprawled figure on the balcony floor. Immediately, she wonders why he's on his back, staring at the sky above him, instead of trying to knock on her door or something. Then, she wonders why he didn't text her, or call her, instead of trying to break in to her room.

She hesitates when approaching him, mostly because his landing was loud—her mother might come bursting in at any moment—but also because... well, Austin kind of disappeared on her for the rest of the day after she talked to Nicky. So much for training partners...

But all it really takes for her hesitation to disappear is for him to roll his head to the side, locking his gaze on hers.

It's always going to be like this, isn't it? The things around her are going to melt and blur, and her heart is going to stop for a long second, because he's looking at her.

Before she can really register her actions, she's already opened her door and is watching him smile widely, warmly, looking up at her standing form.

"I'm the Olympic medalist on the high bar, and I got winded climbing your wall," Austin comments lightly.

Kaylie remains silent, biting a corner of her lower lip and measuring her breaths until she can finally say, clearly and firmly, "I have something to tell you." He sits up, briefly amazing Kaylie with how tall he is—sitting down as he is right now, he's not that much shorter than her standing up. "It's not going to make you very happy."

"Okay..."

Crap. It's like all her courage is leaking away the longer she looks at him. Instead of blurting out her Nicky-related news, however, she impulsively buys more time by motioning towards her room and asking, "um, do you wanna come in first?"

"I thought you'd never ask," he smiles, then complies with her request and enters her room while she takes her time to slide the glass door closed again. "Nice room, by the way." If she weren't so worried with how her news will fly with him, she'd be playfully slapping him for the teasing mockery in his comment. Kaylie's mind is busy sorting out how, exactly, she's going to phrase her following words, when Austin appears beside her and bends down to press a surprisingly hot kiss on her cheek. The intensity of the contact makes Kaylie sway for a moment, closing her eyes involuntarily to fleetingly wonder how long it's been since she's kissed him. "I'd know this is your room if I saw it in a line-up. The purple wallpaper and the glitter kind of give it away."

Obviously, kissing her didn't impair his brain as it did hers; Kaylie has a hard time focusing back on her previous thoughts once he steps away from her and begins to examine the wall upon which all her significant medals and trophies have been hung or mounted. He studies each one with obvious interest, even reaching out to touch a few, to dust some off, to read the inscriptions on them.

"Damn; that's a lot of medals. I already knew it, but you're really, really good." For some reason, she's nervous watching him count out her awards like this—he's been to the Olympics; he stood at the podium in Beijing and represented their entire nation. His accomplishments dwarf hers, and yet he's still looking at her like she's his equal, and at the same time that it flatters her and makes her like him even more, it also intimidates her. "Where's the one from Nationals?"

Quietly, Kaylie points to the large, glistening medal that she still hasn't gotten around to repositioning so that it stands out. It's kind of hidden, even, in the overall layout of her awards, tucked away in a corner that most people would not bother looking at.

"Why is it all the way over there?"

Because it has a story attached to it, and it's not a pleasant one.

"I... didn't really like it when I first got it."

She doesn't know why she can't really remember winning it, only all the things she lost afterwards.

"Why?"

Kaylie swallows hard, counting her heartbeats again. The world around them has become so quiet that she's afraid she's breathing too loudly. "Because I thought I didn't deserve it... I thought it belonged to someone else."

Austin shifts the scrutinizing gaze he'd been employing on the medals to watch her, and that's when Kaylie thinks she's coming undone, so afraid of doing things that will mess this up, that will make him stop liking her. She's wearing a tank top and shorts because of the warm weather, but her fears make her feel as though the temperature in the room is lowering in every passing second.

Then, her words are careful, measured. "I'm going to pretend to date Nicky Russo, starting next week when we come back from Foothills."

"What sponsorship do you have your eye on?"

Although this isn't exactly the response she was expecting from him, Kaylie answers him with the same businesslike tone. "Nike. They'll be my major sponsor for Worlds and the Olympics."

"That's pretty impressive."

This is really, really not what she had anticipated. "Yeah, I thought so."

She notices how far away they're standing, suddenly. She's right beside her bed and he's all the way by the trophy wall, on the other side of the room. It hadn't felt like such a great distance before, but now it does.

Austin shifts on his feet, and perhaps because all her attention is on him, watching out for any reaction outside of his own passive words, she notices that he's discreetly burying his hands inside his pockets. "Did you really date him after Nationals last year?"

Oh. He knows about that.

Well, knows about what, really?

"MJ played up our friendship to the media; made it seem like more. But we were just..." What had they been? "We were... almost something, I guess. We could have been something, if there hadn't been so many things complicating everything."

"You liked him?" Her stomach sinks because he looks much, much too invested in her answer, but as much as she wishes she could lie, lying has never benefited her in any way, all her life. She has to look away from his hooded eyes and the sudden tension of his posture.

"Yes." She rethinks her answer; she forgets that Carter was still mangling her heart back then. "No." But Nicky gave her the butterflies back... "I'm not sure... I think it was like an infatuation, or a crush. Or a knee-jerk reflex to being close to a guy again after Carter had been so horrible."

"A lot of magazines said you dated." He's trying very hard to make that seem like an offhand comment.

"Yeah, well, we didn't."

"Why? If you liked each other…"

She can't pin down why he's asking these particular questions, almost as though daring her to confess having some lingering feelings for Nicky. She imagines that if the situation was the reverse, she'd never, ever, ask him for details on his fake, failed relationship with someone else; she has enough things hurting her that she would avoid accumulating more.

She is then overcome with an urge to halt this conversation and reassure Austin that as of a few weeks ago, there hasn't been any room at all for any other guy in her heart—he's got a complete monopoly on her feelings. But she understands, in a way, that if she's going to juggle fake-dating Nicky while reality-dating Austin, she needs to be transparent about her past, so no doubts come up later. So instead of shaking her head and walking away, she stays. She meets his gaze evenly. And she answers him with the truth.

"Because of Payson." The friend she loves most in the world. "Because Nicky belonged to her first." The friend who's never done anything to hurt her. "I think he only looked at me twice because Payson rejected him. But on my side, that was it—she was there first, and I couldn't compete with her. All my life, whenever I've had to go up against Payson, I got second place. And..." This part kind of hurts to talk about, but she brushes past it. "I had already gotten her gold at Nationals. Nicky belonged to her, too. I couldn't take two things from her, one after the other."

Kaylie's eyes involuntarily shift from the Nationals medal to Austin, realizing with shock that he's not standing so far away anymore—he's taken a few steps closer to her, and is in fact within her reach. And she really, really wishes she could reach her hand out and just touch him. Just rest a hand on his cheek, and feel the heat of his body. But she can't, not while she isn't certain that he still likes her, that her past with Nicky (and the imminent future) hasn't pushed him out of her life. So all she does is raise her chin in order to properly look at him, and waits.

"You're not gonna like him instead of me, are you?" His question, loaded with the sort of insecurity that Austin Tucker never displays, is so surprising to her that she widens her eyes immediately.

"No," she breathes out with disbelief. "In case you haven't noticed, I have a boyfriend."

He cracks an appreciative smile at her humor, but she can tell he isn't convinced, even as he's attempting to act otherwise.

"I saw you two talking by the still rings," Austin tells her with a murmur, reaching out to grab her hand, raising it so he can watch his fingers interlace hers, "and it was weird... I had heard about you two. And I saw how familiar you two were..."

His touch distracts her; her voice wavers a bit. "Is that why you disappeared and ditched me to train by myself?"

His laugh is more embarrassed than amused. "Yeah..." As though apologetic, he raises her hand to his mouth and carefully kisses it. The gesture renders Kaylie short of breath. Suddenly, looking him in the eye becomes difficult—every second makes the temperature in the room rise higher and higher. And yet, she can't look away, and she has to grab a corner of his shirt to steady herself.

"You got jealous?" she asks with an unintentional whisper. "I thought you weren't the jealous type."

"I'm not. Never was." He leans closer and transfers the kissing to her cheek and jaw. "Just with you."

Jesus... if he doesn't kiss her—on the mouth—in the next two seconds, she's going to lose her mind.

"Well, you don't have..." His lips are inching closer to hers, thank God... "anything to worry about..."

Finally, they do kiss, and Kaylie almost exhales with relief. The heat between their bodies is sort of unbearable, but she still pulls him closer and likes it when he shifts his head to deepen the kiss. It's hard not to lower her hands from his neck to his chest, especially when she notices that his shirt is nicely thin, giving her the opportunity to contour the hard lines of the muscles on his torso.

Austin's hands do a little wandering themselves, from her shoulders down to her stomach and back; Kaylie can't help remembering that last time he touched her like this, they were fighting on his bed over who was less "comfortable" with the other.

The bed.

It's right behind her. And because the way Austin kisses her makes all her muscles melt into goo, it looks very inviting right now.

"I know last time we were on a bed," Austin mutters into her neck when he lowers his lips to her jugular and effectively makes Kaylie lose track of the world, "we left with bruises and everything, but can we lay down for a bit?"

Kaylie nods breathlessly, and pulls him down on top of her—the instant comfort and closeness makes her wonder why they didn't just start out this way when he broke into her room. She can barely feel his weight on her, but she can feel his chest and legs brush against hers, and it becomes increasingly difficult to breathe and think properly. There's something powerful and sort of scary running in her veins as he continues to kiss her; something that shuts down her brain at the same time that it makes every muscle and tissue and nerve in her body tingle in reaction to him.

She's vaguely aware that one of his hands is caressing the length of her thigh, burning a trail of goosebumps on her skin. Her own fingers are running through his hair and down to his incredibly hot cheeks—Kaylie thinks she might be feverish, too.

Austin breaks the kiss and just when Kaylie begins to catch her breath, she feels him gently suck on her neck; her breathing instantly becomes even more uneven and she's overcome by an unwaveringly strong urge to kiss and touch Austin everywhere. The fact that all his movements are slow and deliberate makes everything more arduous; Austin has an impressively strong build and she can feel his restraint as he touches her, and yet she keeps wanting more. It's almost like her body is bracing itself for something.

And then it happens. She can tell he doesn't mean to do it, but it happens nonetheless, and it knocks the breath from her lungs: Austin's leg brushes the space between her legs, applying an amount of pressure that's enough to send all her nerves into overdrive and make the room spin around her, but not enough that she lets out any sounds—as much as she wants to—besides a tiny moan.

Immediately, Austin pushes his body off hers and onto his knees, running his hands through his hair in ill-concealed panic. "I'm sorry—I didn't mean—I'm not going to do it again—I'm really sorry," he fumbles nervously.

Kaylie is still recovering from the sensation, and can't think of anything to do except impulsively pull him down again, having missed the warmth of his body during the three seconds she was deprived of it. Her kisses are harder than before, and she notices distantly that she's caught him off-guard; he's betraying reluctance in the extra care he has in his movements.

"Austin…" she breathes a little desperately, wishing she could ask him to touch her again without, you know, asking. She really wants to avoid the embarrassment, but doesn't know how else to approach this without risking it. "It's fine."

Austin wipes off a thin sheen of sweat from his forehead, watching her with what Kaylie thinks is guilt, and some concern. "I don't want to do anything you don't want me to." He sighs heavily, reaching out to touch her knee, then closing his hand and pulling away before any contact is made. Nevertheless, Kaylie feels the ghost of his touch and an impatient ache in her chest. "You have no idea how hard this is." Even though her eyes are sort of devouring the way his shirt can't conceal the muscles underneath, Kaylie blinks the vision away and focuses on regaining her breath, and thinking clearly. Meanwhile, Austin seems to be in his own pained world as he continues, "I don't know how to say it—I just really, really want you, but I don't want to pressure you or make you uncomfortable."

"That didn't feel uncomfortable." At first, she's sure that was a thought that floated into her mind, and that she didn't really say it. Then, at the sight of his widened eyes and the way he's licking his lips and breathing a little more heavily, Kaylie realizes she did, in fact, say that out loud. She should be more embarrassed right now, she knows. But for some reason, she isn't; there's a calm inside her that is balancing out the racing heart and the uneven breathing and the scattered thoughts that seem to revolve around Austin, and his voice, his lips, his chest, his hands.

She hears Austin clear his throat, but notices that his voice is still unusually strained when he asks, "it felt good, then?"

"To be honest, everything you do feels good." There it goes again—this unthinking bravery that propels her words out of her without the still-functioning part of her brain having anything to do with it. She would totally take that back if she could, but because that isn't possible, she allows the words to hang in the air between them, alternating between concern and panic that she's saying the wrong things.

Austin's voice falters again when he states, somewhere between a mumble and a whisper, "I like you so much, Kaylie… and I just want to make you feel good." The silence in the room and the dim lighting surrounding them only accentuate the heartbeats echoing inside her ears, drowning out her thoughts and all the things she's always worrying about. In that moment, she can barely remember that she's a gymnast. She barely remembers that she's anything more than a seventeen-year-old girl in her sparkly, glittery room, watching with an excited ache in her chest as the boy she's fallen for leans down over her body to kiss her.

And even though her breathing has been sort of inconsistent from the moment he stepped into her room, it becomes downright erratic when she feels one of his hands slowly running down her stomach and onto her thigh. His other hand is caressing her face while keeping in place so he can continue to give her short, sucking kisses that she's pretty sure she won't be able to return once his hand reaches that part of her down there that his knee got acquainted with earlier.

And she's right. The moment his fingers make contact and apply pressure, Kaylie's body reacts in full force; she has to grab fistfuls of his shirt, and close her eyes and concentrate all her being into not letting out any sounds louder than the small gasps and moans she can't control. She loses track of the seconds or minutes blurring by because this, she now can recognize, was what her body had been bracing itself for earlier. This—the moment when her limbs feel as though they're floating away from her, the moment when she feels no need to breathe because her lungs aren't really working. The moment that feels like something liquid and hot is slamming into her bloodstream, igniting every muscle into contraction.

Through the hazy aftermath in her brain, Kaylie barely registers that Austin is still planting heavy kisses along her jaw and neck, transferring his hands to her sides and more easily supporting his weight. His labored breathing matches her own, warm against her ear as she finally makes out that in between each kiss he's quietly and slowly murmuring her name. That's enough for her to pull his face towards her own, and for her lips to meet his fervently while she contemplates never, ever, leaving Austin and the bed.

Until she hears a low rap against her door. Instantly, she springs up, relieved when at least this time her head doesn't crash against Austin's. A thousand prickly, panicked thoughts race in her mind. "Kaylie?"

Crap. CRAP.

It's Payson.

"You in there?"

And, for reasons Kaylie can't imagine, Lauren.

She turns to Austin, still sitting beside her, distractedly resting a hand against her thigh. "Austin—" she begins to whisper, but is interrupted when he gives her a lightning-fast kiss and an understanding smile.

"Call me, okay?" he whispers back, then begins to push himself off her bed. Kaylie watches him in that instant, another one of those in which time itself seems to decelerate so she can have just another second with him. Austin pauses by the foot of the bed, then looks at her again—she knows she's flushed, and her lips are swollen and her body aches in ways that it never has before—and Kaylie thinks he's feeling the same way, and time slowed down for him, too. He hurriedly leans over again and presses his lips against hers one more time. She raises a hand to touch his cheek, to hold him in place, and takes a moment to memorize the taste so she can remember it later on for when he isn't around. It's when he breaks the kiss off and she's caught and trapped in his gaze that he breathes out, lower than anything she's ever heard from him, "I really love you, you know."

Her heart takes flight.

"Kaylie!" The call is louder this time, and impatient. "Is she asleep?" Now it's quieter, because it isn't directed at her.

She loves him, too. She does. There's no cure for it.

"Her mother said she was packing for the Foothills thing on Monday." And it's Emily answering. That means all the three components of her so-called posse are waiting.

With a tighter, smaller smile, Austin brushes a thumb across her cheek, close enough to her mouth that she almost feels her lips tingle. And then he's out the sliding door and on her balcony, climbing down.

Kaylie waits one second. Just one, to breathe and compose herself and pat down her hair, before she takes the four long steps that separate her bed from her door.

"Finally!" Lauren.

"Hey, Kaylie." Emily.

"What took you so long? Jeez, were you doing a number two in your bathroom?" Lauren again.

"Don't be gross, Lauren." And Payson.

Then Kaylie decides it's time for her to say something and pray that her voice still works. "Hey guys. What are you doing here?"

"For old time's sake," Payson begins with that extraordinary smile only she can produce, "I thought we could have an impromptu sleepover."

They used to do that all the time when they were younger…

"Right. That's great." Her words sound hollow, only because his whispers are still hammering in her head along with her own stronger heartbeats. _KaylieKaylieKaylieKaylie…_

"You okay?"

No. She's so much better than okay.

And her body... it feels perfect.

"Yeah, of course. I'm good." She gives Payson one of her own smiles, wondering if its brightness matches the blaze inside her, wondering if she can make it through this sleepover without giving in and running to Austin's doorstep. "You had a great idea, Pay."

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks for all the reviews and PMs. I'll admit that this chapter was kind of hard to finish. So all your encouragement is really, really appreciated. :)

Yes, things do get even more interesting as far as the dynamics between Austin, Kaylie (and to a lesser extent, Nicky) develop. Oh and who else was glued to the Olympic gymnastics competitions on their TV? I watched everything! :) And I have seriously developed what I hope is still a healthy obsession with Aly Raisman (who I think looks a lot like Josie Loren, the actress who played Kaylie on MIOBI), and the amazingly badass Aliya Mustafina. I also ended up learning a lot about gymnastics, so at least I am now more informed as I write this fic.

Thanks again for reading! Please review :)


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